


Lyrics Lovers

by Catherine17



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Book Quotes, Bottom Harry, Domestic, Famous Harry, Fluff and Smut, Grieving, Hospitalization, M/M, Movie Quotation(s), Non-Famous Louis, One Direction References, Pop Culture, Roleplay, Song Lyrics, Top Louis, clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-09-16 00:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 92,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9266549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catherine17/pseuds/Catherine17
Summary: Louis is getting his PhD at university in London. Thanks to Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize in Literature, he is the first one to get a PhD in poetry/song lyrics. After three years of extensive researching song lyrics, he's almost finished. The only thing that's left to do is check some sources about song lyrics of boybands. At that point, he's asked as a guest in a talkshow to discuss his findings.Enter Harry Styles, who is the other guest on the tv-show.Boy oh boy. Mr Styles insults him big time. He makes Louis lose his research position and his chance of getting his PhD. But Louis makes Harry smile.





	1. Meet-cute

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's no such thing as a PhD in song lyrics, but since a PhD in poetry does exist, it might happen...?
> 
> Right, so this story will focus upon how much they both love song lyrics. It's a love that is mutual, duh. Obviously, lot of lyrics will be included. Feel free to sing along.

Harry was walking home, tired and just disappointed in the entire world. It was a Friday evening, but here he was: a 23-year-old megastar who was going home to bed at half past ten. No wild parties, no fancy dinners, just home. He was nearly at the corner of his street when he felt his mobile buzzing in his trousers.

_I’m homeless because of you. So thanks for that. You totally owe me one of your 154852 rooms in your mansion._

**Sorry, my mansion is limited to five rooms. Who is this?**

_Louis. Still claiming one._

‘Louis?’ Harry thought? Could it be Lyric Lover Louis from the tv-show last week? Please let it be you. Pretty please.

_Just in case: Lyrics lover Louis._

Apparently, Louis had kept his number. Look at that. There was something good about this particular Friday after all. Harry immediately phoned him as soon as he read the message. While the was waiting for Louis to pick up, he briefly considered that this was maybe a bit of a blunt move. But before he could change his mind and hang up, Louis answered.

“Harry, seriously, are you calling me now? That’s just weird mate.”

“You were texting me… I thought it was easier this way?”

“’s Okay, okay. Sorry about my texts, I’ve had a few drinks and was bored, Sorry sorry. I randomly started texting some people. Just a teeny bit drunk I guess! It’s still happy hour in The Bear’s Den by the way! You should totally come over. You could give me the keys.”

The Bear’s Den? That was literally half a mile from where he was. Harry turned around and started walking in the opposite direction.

“Uhm, Louis? Why are you homeless?”

“Well, since our little tv-show debacle, I lost my grant at the university. And if you don’t have a grant, you’re not allowed to stay there anymore, are you now? Syour fault, totally. That’s why I texted.”

“Louis…”

“No no, technically it may be my fault, I know. Totally my fault. I knooooow! The professors at the university really rubbed that in this afternoon while I got fired. Or it’s not really firing if it’s not a job, if it’s research for a PhD. ‘Tomlinson, what were you thinking?’ Lots of using the word ‘reputation’ and so on. Ugh. Anyway, not a fun talk. I seem to be having lots of those these days. Again, your fault.”

Harry saw the bar and hung up. He needed to talk to Louis in person. He felt incredibly guilty and had been feeling that way since the middle of the talk during the tv-show. He had seen it in Louis’ eyes that he had been shocked about Harry’s attack, and he had been wanting to talk to him the entire time, but as soon as the cameras were turned off, Louis had disappeared. Harry had been thinking about it non-stop for the last two days. He had checked his mobile constantly, hoping that Louis would have texted him as promised, but this promise was made before the cameras started rolling and Harry couldn’t blame him for not keeping said promise.

Louis sat at the bar and stared at his phone. “Did he just really hang up on me? That’s just plain rude, isn’t it? Wanker.”

Harry saw Louis at the bar and walked straight up to him.

“Louis?”

“Harry? Huh? What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was in the neighbourhood, so I thought I’d stop by…”

“No seriously. What are you doing here? How did you get here so fast?”

“It literally took me 4 minutes to walk here, that’s how I close I was. It almost seemed stupid NOT to come.”

“You could have said that when we were talking on the phone. You just hung up in the middle of our conversation!”

“Well, at that point I was outside of the bar and I thought it would be better to talk face-to-face?”

“You’re not really offering me a choice here, are you now? Face-to-face it is. In that case, you’re buying the next round.”

Harry smiled.

////

“So, no more grant, no more research, no more job at the university, no more place to live. That basically sums it up.”

“Oh God,” Harry whispered. “And it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. I am so so sorry.”

“Yeah well… You didn’t help, but it’s my fault in the end.”

“I did not help at all, with my behaviour on the tv-show… I just behaved so appalling to you!”

“Well, that’s something I can’t deny…”

“I am so sorry, we had to protect our reputation. People seem to think that we don’t write anything ourselves, and we do. We really do! It’s super important that we get that message out there…. I’m so so sorry about how I spoke to you.”

“Reputation, really? That’s your excuse?”

“Yeah, lame. I know.”

“No argument here.”

“But see, your entire research kind of confirmed why it’s so important for us to spread that message. We really do write our own material. It’s just that nobody seems to believe us.”

“See, you’re talking about an important topic I’m sure, but all I can think is that my glass is empty.”

Again, Harry smiled. Talking with Louis was oh so easy, as he had discovered backstage two days ago. About two hours before the tv-show started, the two of them had been introduced since they would be talking to one another during the show. The introduction was meant to be polite and brief, but the two boys continued to talk long after the girl who had introduced them had disappeared. Louis was one of those people who was not impressed by Harry’s fame, and he wasn’t afraid to let him know about this.

“So, you’re the Mr Big Shot who is going to discuss lyrics with me on national tv?”

“I don’t know about a big shot, I do know about lyrics.”

“Of course you do. However, you have not just researched the evolution of lyrics throughout the last 50 years of musical history.”

“Nope.”

“And, you have not just researched the influence of lyrics in the late 19th and start of the 20th century in comparison to the influence of poetry throughout the previous centuries.

“Nope.”

“And, you have not just spent the last 18 months in libraries and behind a computer, reading poetry and lyrics and poetry and lyrics and … You get where I’m going with this.”

“Nope. I do compose lyrics, and I change them, I learn them, sing them, forget them, improvise them,… You get where I’m going with this.”

Louis chuckled. “Okay okay Mr Big Shot, you’re also a lyric lover! Let’s call it even. However, I think your bank account kind of confirms there is still a big difference between us lyrics lovers.”

“I don’t know about that actually. I’m not a big fan of dealing with money.”

Louis punched him playfully. “See, that arrogance right there confirms my whole theory. Only stupid rich people say things like that.”

“Stupid? I’m insulted. What on earth could I have done to deserve this kind of tone?”

“Okay, let me make it up to you. How about you give me your mobile phone number, and the second I get paid the publication of my PhD, I’ll text you and we’ll go out for drinks.”

Harry grinned. “So that means chances are I’ll never get that drink, right?”

Louis frowned. “Such confidence, charming that is. Really.”

Harry’s reaction was quite simple. He had just taken Louis’ mobile phone out of his hands and added himself to his contacts. This was in the least unusual behaviour for a worldwide successful singer. Normally, it took him several real life encounters and conversations before he trusted people enough to give him his number. For some strange reason, Louis only needed three minutes.

////

“So, what are you drinking then?”

Louis frowned. “I was drinking a beer, but you know that’s just a drink for us lower class commoners. Right now I’m in the mood for the most expensive drink this bar serves. You know, I’m a real chameleon, I’ll just blend right in with you Mr Big Shot.”

“Your wish is my command.” Harry got up and thought he heard Louis mumble something along the lines of “my new slave.” Harry chuckled and walked over to the bar. He asked for the price of their most expensive champagne and it was alright, only £250 a bottle. He bought two.

With a big smile he placed the bottle in front of Louis, and the other one in front of him. There were so many good one-liners he could use right now, but he decided to just say nothing at all. Play it cool.

“My God, did you really just buy me a bottle? What is wrong with you?”

“Well, you asked for the most expensive drink. And… That’s what you get.” Harry was deliberately stalling now. Louis was just staring at him, waiting for an answer, and Harry enjoyed his attention. “And… The most expensive thing they serve is this bottle of champagne. And since I thought it would be rude to ask you to share your drink, I bought a second one for me.”

“Seriously? You bought two bottles of champagne?”

Harry just pointed with his left hand to Louis’ bottle, and with his right hand to his bottle.

“You are trying to get me drunk.”

“Why on earth would I do that? I simply followed your instructions Louis. You asked for the most expensive thing, that’s what you get.” Harry put on his most saint-like expression, trying to look as innocent as Rory in the first season of Gilmore Girls.

“You are so full of yourself. Really. Who buys two bottles of champagne because some nitwit you’ve met once asks you to?”

Harry did not really what to say to that. Indeed, who does that?

“Uhm, me? I’m just a nice person in general. Also, I feel as if I have some making up to do towards you. And trust me, I’m not trying to get you drunk. We would be drunk together.”

“Mate, you probably drink champagne for breakfast. Your blood is 25% champagne, that’s how much you are used to this stuff. How on earth is this going to get you drunk?”

“Louis, I don’t drink champagne for breakfast.”

Louis just snorted.

“Seriously though. Before 10am, there’s only 1 drink and that’s tea.”

“Tea, really? Okay, now you’ve given the correct answer. Congrats Harry, you just earned yourself some bonus points.”

Harry smiled. “Really? Bonus points? How many have I collected already?”

Louis snorted. “You really wanna know? You insulted me on national tv, you made me lose my job and my flat, and you hung up on me. So far, you’re still in the red.”

“Ugh, banking terms. You are doing that on purpose.”

“Duh.”

Harry started to open Louis’ bottle while saying “No seriously, I can always return the second bottle. If it’s unopened they’ll just give me my money back. But I think I deserve some champagne after my horrendous day, and I think you do too.”

“Jeez, you’re a popstar. How on earth could you have a horrendous day?”

“You have no idea.” He poured two glasses and handed one to Louis. “How about we toast to bad decisions?”

“10 minutes ago I was sitting here by myself, now I’m drinking champagne with a fancy popstar. Yes, it was indeed a terrible decision to text you, I see that now.” Louis answers sarcastically.

Harry smiled while they toasted.

/ / / / /

Harry woke up with an extremely dry mouth and a heavy headache. Easy diagnosis: hangover. And a fairly decent one too, to say the least. He crawled out of bed and made it to his bathroom, where he stuck his head under the tap and drank water for a full minute. When he got back up, his head seemed to be in pain from the upward movement alone. Great, this was going to  be an awesome day.

“Harry?”

Oh crap. Louis? Louis was here?

And just like that, like a flash of lightning, everything came back to him. The two bottles of champagne, the late night kebab, Louis’ sad face because he had no place to stay, Harry’s great idea that made Louis smile again, the walk home that took half an hour because they couldn’t walk straight, Louis and Harry singing with another bottle of champagne (where did that even come from?) while trying to walk, Harry’s fall, getting home and not being able to find the keys, Louis and Harry literally crawling up the stairs, and --- blank. That’s about as far as his memories go. What happened when they got home? Did they…?

Since Louis’ voice seemed to be coming from the guest room, they probably didn’t. Right? Harry would remember if they would have…? No?

“Harry!” Louis yelled again, a bit louder this time.

“I’m in my room,” Harry replied. The yelling actually hurt his head. Probably Louis did not know where his room was. He opened the door and walked into the hallway, and saw Louis standing there, looking terrible. And also terribly cute. Okay, his eyes looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, and his hair was just one big mess, but he still looked cute. He just stood there, holding a pillow, wearing nothing but boxers and had the same look upon his face as Harry Potter when he first discovered he was a wizard. Adorable, really.

“What happened last night?” Louis asked, with a husky voice.

“Not entirely sure…” Harry answered truthfully. “The only thing I’m sure of right now is that I need some painkillers and lots and lots of water.”

“Amen,” Louis replied, and he just followed Harry to the kitchen.

/////

“So…” Harry placed the two plates filled with eggs and toast upon the counter. Both boys had been silent throughout the ten minutes of cooking, the only sounds coming from the sizzling pan.

“So.” Louis replied. They looked at one another, and both of them obviously felt ashamed.

“Right. If you ever need a definition of the word awkward, I’m guessing this moment right now pretty much explains it all.” Louis said.

That brought a smile to Harry’s face. “I don’t know why this is so awkward to begin with.”

“Probably because we’re both wondering if we had sex last night, and we can’t remember shit, but we’re too chicken to ask.”

“Waw, why beat around the bush, hey? I don’t know if I’m ready for that.” Harry said, while he continued to look at Louis. The latter had already eaten half of his plate, and didn’t seem to mind his own honest outburst.

“Okay, then we’ll just ignore it. But if it becomes even more awkward, don’t start complaining. It’ll be entirely your fault. Yes, again, your fault.”

The twThe two of them continued to eat, pretending if everything was okay, but the tension was just unbearable. Harry came up with several things to say, but each time chickened out, considering it wasn’t going to be funny enough, or clever enough, or just, okay enough. Louis caught him looking at him several times, and both of them turned away as quickly as possible. It was nothing more than a few minutes, but it was absolutely super awkward.

“Well superstar, I thought it was going to be fun living with you, but if it’s going to be this weird, I’ll just search for a nice bridge to sleep under.” Louis got up and placed his plate in the sink.

“What? Where are you going?” Harry asked. He didn’t know what to say, really. His head hurt and he just wanted to crawl in bed. Maybe with Louis.

“As I just said, I won’t bother you anymore since I’m clearly making you feel uncomfortable. I’ll just go and grab my things and I’ll be on my way.”

“No no, don’t go!” Harry said, while getting up as well. “Don’t leave!” Waw Harry, that didn’t sound desperate at all.

“No, it’s okay.” Louis said. “I only texted you as a joke yesterday. Okay, I might not have had a place to sleep, but I didn’t really think you were going to show up and offer me a bed. Yes, I can’t stay at university anymore, but I do have enough money to pay for a hotel room until I find a decent flat. Really.”

“I just feel bad. It’s my fault you lost your room at university.”

“I know you’re sorry. You’ve only mentioned that for about a gazillion times. I might not have checked all my sources for my thesis research, but I’m not _that_ dumb.”

“Stay here until you find a flat! I’ve got the extra rooms, let me make it up to you.”

“Right, and have some more of these very unpleasant and awkward breakfasts? Jezus, you really know how to tempt a man.” Louis chuckled.

“Oh come on. I’m terribly hangover, my head feels as if it’s going to explode and I don’t remember how we got home yesterday. Sorry about the awkwardness, but that’s just a one-time-thing. And it’s Saturday. Throughout the week I’ll be gone in the mornings, and you won’t see me at all.”

“Harry, you don’t have to do this.”

“Louis, I’m 23 and I’m living in this enormous house all by myself. I want to do this. Stay. Use the spare room.”

“Harry, why…”

Harry immediately interrupted him. “Oh God, just stay already! How annoying are you?”

“Wow wow, relax. Are you sure you don’t mind me staying?”

“Louis, stay. What else do I need to do to convince you?”

“How about you cook me dinner this evening and try to talk to me while we’re eating?” Louis gave him a cocky smile.

“You’re on.”

Harry smiled.

/////

Harry had gone shopping in the afternoon and bought enough food for the entire population of Andorra. He didn’t know what Louis would like, and therefore he had just bought pretty much everything in order to be able to prepare at least five different dishes. (a spicy Thai dish, a homemade pizza, traditional fish and chips, a pasta salad, or chicken with mozzarella) He was a good cook, and he really wanted to impress Louis with his cooking skills. In his grand scheme to make it up to Louis, a little bit of cooking might help to win him more bonus points. He was standing in his kitchen, staring at his five bags of food when Louis walked in.

“That’s a special cooking technique: staring at the food. How does that work exactly?” Louis grinned.

“I’m just deciding what to cook you. What would you like? Any preferences?”

“Mmm, something that tastes good.”

“Right, that narrows it down…” Harry smiled and Louis gave him an innocent shrug. “Is there anything you don’t like?”

“I’m nog a big fan of spicy food. And nothing that’s too healthy.” Louis stuck out his tongue as if healthy food was the most disgusting thing in the world. Again, Harry smiled. In his head, he scratched the Thai dish and the pasta salad from his imaginary menu.

“How about I make us some homemade pizzas and we both choose our own toppings?”

“Homemade pizzas? You know you’re only allowed to call it homemade if you even prepare the dough yourself, right?” Louis demanded.

“Uhu.” Harry nodded.

“You are going to make dough and everything?” Louis seemed impressed.

“It’s a bit of work, but it tastes so much better… Really, it’ll be worth it.”

“Knock yourself out then.” Louis said. Harry smiled and started on the pizzas.

/////

By the end of the evening, Harry was sure of a few things.  
1\. Louis had a big group of family and friends and enjoyed discussing all of them. Which he did. He also was very interested in Harry’s family and interviewed him thoroughly.  
2\. Louis had a big mouth and didn’t mind insulting Harry. Which he did. Non-stop.  
3\. Louis had a big stomach and could eat pretty much anything you placed in front of him. Which he did. He ate an entire pizza on his own, and asked for one more which Harry made an hour later.  
4\. Louis had a big brain, since he knew so much about lyrics that it almost felt as if Harry was talking to an anthology. Name the song, name the singer, and he could quote the lyrics as if it were nothing. Which he did. Not once could Harry discover a mistake.  
5\. Harry was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.


	2. Breakfast Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their incredibly awkward hungover breakfast, Harry and Louis try again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is filled with lyrics... I'm sorry if you do not know the songs, then it might be a bit boring, but I've tried to work with songs that most people will recognize.
> 
> Also, some Harry Potter, some 500 Days of Summer, and some Gilmore Girls. (I'll be highly impressed if you discover the GG-reference!)

The next morning while Harry was preparing the two of them breakfast, Louis challenged Harry.

“I’ve got an idea. Remember The Awkward Breakfast we shared yesterday?” Louis asked.

“I’ve been trying to forget about it actually. Luckily, I’m sure that today’s breakfast cannot get any more awkward, because then the earth would simply explode or something.”

“Yup. Let’s try to avoid such unpleasant shenanigans.”

“Couldn’t agree more. Any ideas?”

“I always have ideas! Really Styles, don’t underestimate me. I’ve got a degree from a university, what do you have?”

“A few worldwide successful singles, a few awards, a few world tours, and a few millions in the bank.” Harry shrugged.

“Ugh. Shut up.”

“Hey, you were the one who asked mate. Don’t tempt me to be an obnoxious superstar, I can play that role quite well.”

“I’m just going to ignore that. Let’s discuss what we do have in common. Not your millions or your awards, but the lyrics. Since you are an actual composer of real lyrics that are apparently popular on a global scale as you just modestly pointed out, you must know quite a bit of them.”

“I’d like to think I do?” Harry answered, almost as if it was a question.

“Great. I’ll quiz you. See if you know the classics.”

“Cool!” Harry grinned. He might not have been studying lyrics for a living, but being quizzed about them on Sunday morning sounded like heaven. He loved lyrics, and everything about them. Loved writing them, singing them, thinking about them, analysing them, searching them online when he couldn’t understand them, … Anything goes, really.

“Round 1 is easy. I start the verse, you finish it. You only get a point if you the entire verse is 100% correct.”

“Any bonus points in it?” Harry smirked.

“Jeez Styles, you don’t earn bonus points that easy. I expect you to ace this! You’re a professional composer for God’s sake. If you do well on the entire quiz, you might get one bonus point.”

“Just one?”

“Well, If you don’t want it…”

“No no, I’ll take it. I’ll earn it!” Harry shouted. It was pathetic behaviour. Really. When did Harry become such a loser? Trying to earn bonus points from Louis, just to get out of the red as he said on Friday. It was obvious when he became this loser. When he fell in love with Louis. Easy as that.

“Round 1!” Louis shouted, and Harry braced himself.

“I fell into a burning ring of fire,” Louis said.

“… I went down down down and the flames went higher.” Harry sang with a low voice, just as Johnny Cash himself. Louis didn’t say anything but he did write a stripe on the piece of paper lying in front of him. Yay, one point for Harry!

“You shake my nerves and you rattle my  brain,…” Louis said.

“… too much love drives a man insane. You broke my will, but what a thrill. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!” Harry yelled enthusiastically with a strong American accent, as if he were Jerry Lee Lewis. Again, Louis jotted down a stripe.

“If you wanna make the world a better place.” Louis said.

“…take a look at yourself and make a change.” Harry sang, and while he did he got up and started moonwalking. Louis merely smiled, and added another stripe.

“Thunder only happens when it’s raining.” Louis said.

“Players only love you when they’re playing.” Harry sung. He immediately added: “I’m actually a big fan of Fleetwood Mac. ‘Go Your Own Way’ is one of my favourite tracks for when I’m driving. It’s perfect to sing in the car on the motorway. And I love ‘Little Lies’.” And to emphasise his point, he started humming the song.

Louis’ smile grew during Harry’s outburst. “Waw, someone’s excited about Fleetwood Mac.”

“You should be too! And don’t forget to add another stripe, because I’m sure I nailed that one.”

Louis did as he was told and immediately released a new challenge for Harry: “You can’t always get what you want.”

“But if you try sometimes, you might just find you get what you need.” Harry sang with an extremely deep voice, making him sound like Mick Jagger. “You know, I’ve been told I look like a young Jagger,” Harry pointed out.

“You should consider yourself lucky then, because you don’t want to look like an old Mick Jagger. Don’t fish for compliments Styles. You’re better than that.”

“Hey!” Harry said, looking all offended.

“Take me out, tonight.” Louis said.

“Where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive. Driving in your car I never never want to go home because I haven't got one anymore.” Harry sang.

Louis added another stripe and nodded. “The lyrics of this song are highly appropriate!”

Harry chuckled. “No, they’re not. Two days ago they might have been appropriate but now you’ve got a new home. And, you’ve never driven in my car. Have you seen 500 Days of Summer by the way? This is the song that’s playing when they meet. It’s so cute. The girl, Summer, says that she loves The Smiths. So do I!”

“Are you trying to turn _my_ lyrics quiz into _your_ movie quiz? Rude! That’s going to cost you points mate!”

“No no no!” Harry protested immediately. “I’ll play. I love this! This is so much fun. And all of the songs you’ve chosen are wonderful. You’ve got good taste in music, very similar to mine actually.”

“Harry, I’ve chosen nothing but absolute classics. Let’s say that pretty much the entire population of the world thinks these songs are wonderful.”

“Still…”

“Well anyway, you scored 5/5 in the first round. Well done. Now let’s move to something a bit more contemporary. I’ll give you a verse, you give me the artist and the title.” Harry just nodded, because he was excited to continue.

“I’m going to sing them a bit, but don’t judge me, I’m not a great singer.” Louis said with just a bit of insecurity in his voice, something that Harry had not heard before.

He took a deep breath and began: “And I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be. And satisfaction feels like a distant memory. And I can't help myself. All I wanna hear her say is…” Louis sang. Harry didn’t answer, not because he didn’t know the song, but because he was simply mystified by Louis’ voice. Louis gave him a questioning look.

“Waw Louis, your voice is so, so… Special!”

“Special like, stop eating the paste special?” Louis asked.

“No you idiot, special like, it stands out. You’ve got a very recognizable voice. It’s a bit rough, yet beautiful. But still rugged, and very manly.”

“Okay, I might have believed you in the beginning of your explanation, but that’s just completely over the top. You don’t have to bury me in compliments just to hide the fact that you didn’t recognize the song.”

“Shut up. It’s Arctic Monkeys, with Are You Mine.”

“Ooooh, I did not see that coming. Well done Styles.” He added another stripe on the piece of paper.

“But seriously, you’ve got a lovely voice.” Harry insisted.

“Stop it.”

“But you do! It’s so.”

“Stop it.” Louis interrupted, a bit louder this time. He looked annoyed, and Harry didn’t want to ruin the fun breakfast they were having, so he dropped it. “Next song then?”

Again, Louis took a deep breath and then started a combination of rapping and singing: “I've asked about you and they've told me things. But my mind didn't change, I still the feel the same. What's a life with no fun, please don't be so ashamed. I've had mine, you've had yours, we both know.”

Again, Harry didn’t say anything. Listening to Louis’s singing was just heavenly. His voice! Mesmerising, that was the word to describe Louis’ voice. And Harry was becoming more mesmerised every minute he spent with Louis.

“So, I take it you’re not a big fan of r&b then?” Louis chuckled and just like that Harry snapped back into reality.

“It was Take Care, by Drake and Rihanna.” He answered. “I love that song. It’s just so pure. Some songs are about how love is all great and heavenly and all these fancy adjectives, but I think they nailed it with those lyrics. Someone to take care of you, isn’t that what love boils down to?” Harry asked.

“Well, someone just swallowed a philosopher’s stone. This was supposed to be a fun and light music quiz. Not a philosophical conversation about the meaning of love.”

“Louis, the philosopher’s stone doesn’t mean that you become a philosopher. It means that you get to live forever. Haven’t you read the Harry Potter books?”

“A correct answer to the singing, and spotting my incorrect Harry Potter reference which I totally gave you on purpose? Mate, you just earned yourself a bonus point.”

And just like that, Harry grew an inch taller and he beamed as the other Harry when he was sorted into Gryffindor.

“Okay, this is the last one. If you know this one too, I’ll be highly impressed.”

“So, no pressure then.” Harry stated.

“None whatsoever.” Louis smiled, and this time he started singing immediately: “Sleeping is giving in. No matter what the time is.” And Harry recognized the song as one of his own favourites and immediately joined in: “Sleeping is giving in. So lift those heavy eyelids.” Louis’ face lit up when Harry started singing with him, but he didn’t seem to mind as he started to sing a bit louder and more confident. They continued to sing together, and when they came to the chorus, Louis just followed the normal lyrics and Harry started singing the backing vocals, all the ‘aaah’ sounds that could be found in the song. Both Harry and Louis were smiling and singing at the same time, and Harry thought the mix of their voices sounded just superb. Three minutes later, they finished the last verse together and they just stared at each other with gigantic smiles upon their faces.

“Rebellion Lies by Arcade Fire,” Harry almost whispered because he didn’t want to break the bubble they had created for themselves. 

“Best Way To Answer Ever.” Louis answered, and he whispered as well, still smiling.

“Best Duet Ever.” Harry replied.

“Best Breakfast Ever.” Louis concluded.  



	3. Selfie time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their breakfast, the boys spend the day together. They are enjoying a quiet Sunday evening in. Nobody knows that Louis lives with Harry, and the rest of the world (besides Louis) still thinks Harry Styles is a mean person. Harry has an idea to change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in bold: Nick Grimshaw  
> in italics: Harry Styles

Such a fun breakfast, there is just no other way to describe it. Fun. Harry couldn’t really remember when was the last time that he had that much fun. God, he was hopelessly in love. The rest of the day was pretty similar, with basically nothing more than a constant fluent conversation. They kept on discussing lyrics, obviously, but constantly linking songs to parts of their lives, and with each song he learned a bit more about Louis. For example, he used to practice the bridge from Drops of Jupiter, an older song from Train, with his sister. Louis talked excitedly about how he and Lottie would shout the lyrics together, trying to nail the entire part without needing to take an extra breath of air. Harry immediately googled the song and Louis and Harry sang together:

“Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken  
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong  
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone  
Conversation  
The best soy latte that you ever had, and me”

Both of them were able to do it, just in one breath. Again, both men smiled. Harry was once again struck my Louis’ voice, but he did not comment upon it, remembering the only weird 3 seconds during their breakfast that morning.

Before he knew it, the day was over. It was late on Sunday evening, and Louis and Harry were seated in the couch, watching GoggleBox. Harry’s phone buzzed, and from the corner of his eye he read ‘Nick Grimshaw’.

**Wanna visit my show tomorrow to discuss your incredibly friendly talk show appearance last week? Pump up your rep? Make people forgive you?**

Right. While Harry had been ignoring the wordwide web this weekend, he could only assume about the kind of response his appearance on the talk show. Since One Direction’s rise to fame, he has always had the reputation of being likable, of being a charmer, of being friendly all the frigging time. And Thursday night, on national tv, he had been the opposite. For the first time in his life, Harry Styles had been cold, had acted like a business man, and he had been mean. Simple as that. And to make matters worse, he had been mean to the lovely creature sitting next to him. But, since Louis was sitting in his house eating popcorn on a Sunday evening, it was probably safe to assume that Louis had already forgiven him for his appalling behaviour. The rest of the country or his fanbase may be a different matter. Or not. He had no idea, and decided to browse the web a bit. First, he quickly took a picture of Louis, making sure that his own legs and feet were visible in the picture. He sent the picture to Nick. Within ten seconds, he got a reply. Replies.

**WHO IS THAT YOUNG HAROLD? OVERNIGHT GUEST WHO JUST WON’T LEAVE?**

**OMG OMG!**

**Is that Louis from the talk show?**

**Louis? The guy you insulted… the one with a phd you basically trashed?**

**Answer me please this makes no sense at all!!!!**

**HARRY TALK TO ME!**

Harry saw the texts coming in while he was checking the latest One Direction Twitter pages, and he couldn’t help but smile. Nick Grimshaw was apparently dumbfounded. Well well well.

A few minutes later, it was clear to Harry that he had some making up to do. Over the last couple of days a lot of people had tweeted negative things about him, and #MeanHarry had even been a trending topic the day after the show. CleverNews had made it a news item (“Which girl made Harry Styles so mean?”) in which they discussed all of his “exes” and analysed who might have made him behave that way. ENews had published an article titled ‘10 Times Famous British Gentlemen Misbehaved’ and included him in the top 3. What a load of crap.

Clearly all of those negative reactions were silly, Harry thought, because Louis was right here with him. He was not mean. He had never been mean before. These two minutes on national tv were an exception. But obviously, the footage of those two minutes was here to stay and haunt him forever. Right, he was going to make up for this. Going on Nick’s show tomorrow might be a good idea, but that was only step 2. Step 1 would take place right now.

“Hey Louis, how about a selfie?” Harry asked in his most casual tone. Louis just turned and looked at him all surprised.

“Why?”

“Because some of my friends don’t believe that you’re here.” Harry shrugged.

“Your friends don’t know me.”

“I kicked your ass on tv. Of course they know you.”

“Jeez Styles, you didn’t kick my ass. You just pointed out one obvious mistake in my phd… And you may have insulted me a bit. And you were mean. But, just for the record, You Did Not Kick My Ass.” Louis stated, raising his finger in the air. Harry couldn’t help but smile. See, he wasn’t mean. He made this guy lose his flat and his phd, and Louis still wasn’t mad at him. There’s all the proof people might need.

“Okay, but still they don’t believe you are here.”

“Waw, some great friends you have. They think you are a big fat liar. You’ve chosen your friends wisely Styles.” Louis grinned.

“So, selfie then?” Harry asked.

“Sure.” Louis agreed and crawled closer while Harry took his mobile. The two of them just smiled and selfie 1 was born. While he took the picture, Harry couldn’t help but notice Louis’ smell. Heaven, that’s what he smelled like.

“Ok, that’s the first one. We can do better than that. How about you make a mean face, and I’ll look all sad and hurt? That would totally fit our tv bit we had going on Thursday.” Louis said.

“You’ve got it.” Harry smiled, “and then we’ll do another one the other way around. I’ll put on a sad pout and you’ll look all bad ass.” And that’s how selfie 2 and 3 appeared.

“And now a good old-fashioned duckface just for the sake of it!” Louis shouted.

“And a creepy smiley one!” Harry yelled enthusiastically. And just like, selfie 4 and 5 were created. They continued for a while, creating a total of 24 different selfies in very different poses, with very different faces and very different emotions. Then the two men remained quite close next to each other, while checking out the result of their fashion shoot. Harry was smiling the entire team, and he kept on enjoying Louis’ wonderful smell.

“You smell really nice, by the way.” Harry popped out all of the sudden. Oops. Was that out loud? No no no no… That couldn’t have been out loud, could it?

“Smooth Styles, I’ll just scoot over to my original seat on the coach. Don’t worry. I can read between the lines.” Louis said sarcastically and he crawled back.

“No no no, that’s not what I meant!” Harry shouted confused. What had just happened? He had said Louis smelled nice, and Louis had taken it as an insult? Why would he do that?

“Relax mate, I’m just kidding.” Louis chuckled. “God, you are so easy. I know we met in a serious context, but I’m kind of a funny guy in case you hadn’t noticed. If we’re going to live together for a while, you should know that I’m going to be kidding a lot. Kidding YOU a lot. Is that okay?”

Harry grinned. “I can take it. Bring it on.”

“Don’t challenge me like that. You don’t stand a chance Mr Fancy Pants.” Louis stated dryly.

“Hey, is it okay if I post this selfie to prove that you are really here and that I’m not mean?” Harry asked, changing the subject rather abruptly.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Cool.” Without taking a second to consider if this was a good idea, Harry uploaded selfie 3 on Twitter and Instagram, captioning it #NotMean #AllIsGood #AllTheLove. Louis looked all bad ass and mean, whereas Harry gave him a pouting look. They looked adorable, really. Then it was time for step 2 to make up for his mean behaviour, and he replied Nick’s messages.

_I’m in. I’ll pop in at 8am if that’s okay._

**COOOOOOOOL! Bring your new Lover?**

_New Lover?_

**Mate, you just posted a picture of you and a guy captioning it #AllTheLove.**

Oops.


	4. On Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Louis visit Nick's studio.  
> Love confessions are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Nick in bold, Harry in italics.
> 
> There's a small Jane Austen reference for the attentive readers :)

The next morning when Harry walked into the kitchen, Louis was already seated there eating a bowl of cereal. On his first day at Harry’s house, he had said something like ‘make yourself at home’ and Louis had taken that advice to heart apparently.

“Well, you’re up early for someone who doesn’t have a job to do.” Harry remarked.

“Good morning to you to!” Louis replied with a fake smile. “I know, I should totally sleep in but I couldn’t sleep anymore… Sucks really. What am I going to do all day? I’m not really good at doing nothing. Doing nothing only works on Sundays.”

“Feel free to clean the house.” Harry said in a serious tone.

“You’re joking.”

“Louis, I’ve got a maid. Of course I’m joking. I know you told me yesterday that you’re a funny guy, but I can crack a joke as well you know.”

“No you can’t. You think you’re funny, but you’re not.” Louis said. “Humor is an underappreciated art form, don’t feel bad. It’s not for everyone.”

“I can totally be funny!” Harry insisted.

“No you can’t. Accept it.” Louis merely shrugged.

“The fans love my jokes.”

“No, you moron. Your fans love YOU. So they put with your jokes. That’s not the same.”

“But they all laugh!”

“Sure they do. But that’s because it’s funny that you think that you are funny. That’s not being funny itself.”

“What? Too many funnies in one sentence. That makes no sense whatsoever.”

“Harry, I’ve known you for three days already, and you have not once been funny. Yes, you’ve made me laugh, because you try so hard that’s it becomes funny and most of all endearing. I'll tell you what: the moment you crack a hilarious joke, I’ll award you with a homemade dessert. So that’s probably never going to happen.”

“You’re on! I like six-layered chocolate cake by the way. No pressure.” Harry said and he started on his own breakfast. He should still feel a bit insulted about how Louis had insisted that he was not funny, but the only word that Harry seemed to remember from the conversation was endearing. Louis had called him endearing. And all the cares in the world seemed to disappear into thin air.

The previous night had been different. As soon as Harry had uploaded the picture, comments started pouring in, mostly because he had used the word love and it was a picture of Louis and Harry, two men. People were questioning him in so many different ways: Was he gay, was the debate between Louis and Harry on tv all an act, was he gay, was he using Louis to make up for his mean behavior in public, was he gay, … The word gay seemed to return constantly. And yes, Harry was gay, very gay, but nobody knew. Well, nobody was a strong word. His family and a few of his best friends obviously knew, the One Direction boys, some former hookups, but further on, nobody. And know he seemed to have given it away with just one picture, without actually thinking about it. When he posted the picture, he hadn’t even thought about how people might interpret it, the only thing on his mind had been the hashtag #HarryIsMean messages from a few days earlier and that was all. No thoughts on his sexuality. Far from it.

Although Louis was sexy.

Very sexy.

“So, what does a popstar do on a normal Monday then?” Louis asked, interrupting Harry’s train of thought.

“Well, I’m actually going to the BBC-studios for a quick radio interview and then it’ll be writing time with the One Direction team for the rest of the day.”

“Writing with One Direction. Yes, I believe someone told me that boybands today apparently write their own songs. Shocking information, that is Mister Styles!” Louis gave him his best surprised face, and Harry had to admit that he had some acting skills and he couldn’t help but smile. Again, smiling. That seemed to have become a habit during his interactions with Louis. Smiling. It’s been a long time since Harry smiled that much, that’s for sure.

“Yes indeed. We only started writing last week actually, so we’re just in the first phase of our new album. And we have the intention of writing _every_ single song ourselves Mister Tomlinson.”

“Gotcha.”

“What are you going to do today then?” Harry asked.

“No idea actually. Listening to your lovely voice on the radio perhaps? Why a radio interview by the way if you just started writing on your new album? Sounds a bit weird, doesn’t it?”

“Well…” Harry dragged the word as long as he possible could. He didn’t really know how to answer that question.

“Well?” Louis gave a questioning look.

“Well, I’m actually going to discuss my behavior during our lovely talk show appearance last week. Make amends for my mean words. Do some sucking up. Be nice in general and all that. Make the lovely British people forgive me for my two minutes of being a douche.”

“Yes. Uhu. Because normally you’re one of the last living British gentlemen. Please, show the world that a true gentleman still exist.” Louis feigned outrage.

“Yeah well, laugh all you want… You should have seen the negative comments online after the talk show aired on Thursday. #HarryIsMean was trending!”

“I don’t even know what that means Harry.”

“Basically, it’s fairly simple. Let me put it like this. Being a superstar is like being a kid. If you misbehave, you have got to make up for it.”

"I still don't see the problem here popstar. The only person you insulted was little old me. Not the rest of the world. And I'm night here! You've solved my housing situation, so as far as I'm concerned you've made it up to me. The rest of it was all my fault, if anything. Why does the entire world need to like you anyway? I think this calls for some Albus wisdom. Dumbledore once said, 'if you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.' Okay, no cabin here and the words might have been meant for another Harry, but they very much apply in this case as well.

“I wish it were that simple. I wish I had gone to Hogwarts. Dumbledore could have solved this situation in a heartbeat, you're right about that.” Harry sighed.

“Of course I'm right. Hey, how about I join you to the studio and I’ll explain that I’ve forgiven you? Wouldn’t that help? If people see that we’re okay, then they might forget about the entire thing?”

They might.

 

/////

 

“So, for all of you who have just tuned in, we’ve got Harry Styles in our studio today.” Nick chirped into his microphone. “And you might have seen YouTube clips of him behaving rather forward towards a poor studio guest on last Thursday. But he’s here, just as his guest, and both of them have been telling us all is good!

“Yeah Nick indeed. Thanks for having us here by the way.”

“A pleasure, as always. So, if you have any questions for Mister Styles here, feel free to tweet them and yours might make it on the show! In the meantime, we’re going to listen to Ed Sheeran’s last single, Castle on the Hill.”

“Right Harry,” Nick continued as soon as he had turned off the microphone, “Within three minutes we’ll go back on air. You can see the questions coming in on this screen. Pick out a few of them that you feel like answering. I need a wee, I’ll leave you two to it then.” He jumped of his stool and Louis watched him leave with the same face Gale had whenever he saw Katniss kissing Peeta during The Hunger Games. Yugh.

“Waw, Nick Grimshaw!” Louis exclaimed. “He is just as cool in real life as he is while he is on air! I always listen to his show, especially when I was working on my research. Such excellent record choices, and such a witty guy! I can’t believe I’m in his studio! I can’t believe I just spoke two entire sentences during his show!”

“Two entire sentences?”

“Yeah, I said ‘There’s no hard feelings.’ and ‘I really do live there now.’ Two entire sentences on Nick Grimshaw’s show! Badass!”

“I don’t want to sound like a total dick, but I’m an international superstar. Nick’s just a radio host. Why are you more impressed by him then you are by me? That’s totally not fair!” Harry wasn’t jealous. No envious feelings whatsoever. None. He just really hated Nick right now.

“You did sound like a dick. Sorry for disappointing you roomie. He’s just so funny.”

“I’m funny too, you laughed all morning!” Harry pouted.

“Yes, and I’m laughing now, because you are making a total fool of yourself _again_. What are you, eight? Come on Styles, let it go. I thought you might have gotten from my PhD research that I’m not a big One Direction fan. Hence, not a big Harry Styles fan. Jeez, I wouldn’t have accepted your room if I had been a fan. That would just be weird as fuck.”

“What are the two ladies quarrelling about?” Nick asked when he entered the room again. Louis and Harry both went silent. Nick waiting two seconds and when no reply came, he merely stated “That wasn’t awkward at all. Picked your questions Harry?”

Harry answered four questions on air:

  1. We’ve never seen you acting so harsh. Did something happen earlier?



Harry: “No, and it would be lame so use something like that as an excuse. I was just tired of having to defend ourselves. We are a boyband, yes, but we do write our own songs. It’s just so annoying that no one seems to believe us, and I think Louis’ attitude was the final drop for me. You know, he had the ‘no-way-a-boyband-composes-something-by-themselves-vibe’ going on and that is just super irritating. We work so hard on our albums and I wanted to get that message out there. I might have overreacted a bit, but I still stand by what I said.

(Louis gives him a thumbs up at the end of this answer.)

  1. Are you dating that guy? Or a guy?



No, I’ve gotten several questions like this. People seem to think because I’ve tweeted this picture of me and Louis and I added the hashtag all the love that it was some kind of big romantic declaration of love, but it really wasn’t. People who follow me, know that #AllTheLove is kind of my signature caption. You shouldn’t overanalyze everything, I just typed it out of habit. That’s all. I’m not dating anyone at the moment.

(Louis gives him the ‘nailed it’ sign.)

  1. Is there going to be a new One Direction album any time soon?



Well, any time soon, no. We started working on new songs a week ago, so it’ll take us at least six more months before you might expect a first single. But as soon as I’m done here, I’m joining the other One Direction boys at the studio to work on new material.

(Louis isn’t listening anymore. He is just looking at Nick.)

  1. What happened when the recording of the talk show was over? Did the two of you talk?



No, I immediately wanted to talk to Louis to apologize and explain why I had reacted in such a harsh way but he disappeared within five seconds and I didn’t get a chance. Luckily, I met him the next evening in a bar, and it escalated quickly… It’s my fault that he lost his flat at university, so now he’s staying in my house. I’ve got a few rooms left, so I thought it was an easy way to make it up to him that he lost his grant because of me. Basically, we’ve been roommates since Friday.”

(Louis is no longer looking at Nick. He is _staring_ at Nick.)

“Yes, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a roommate.” Nick replied sarcastically. Louis fell of his stool laughing.

 

////

 

Harry dropped Louis at home, after again a pleasant but short conversation in the car and then it was One Direction time. Yet, he couldn't get the nagging feeling of his mind, and when Harry entered the building to meet up with his band members, he got another text from Nick that confirmed his hunch about Nick (and Louis).

**Thanks for stopping by! Great interview!**

**Can I get Louis’ number? He was such a cutie pie. Pretty please?????**

_Why didn’t you ask him when we left?_

**I was working mate… Can’t leave the microphone!**

Harry should have seen this coming. Louis and Nick really liked each other from the first minute, that much was obvious. And so Nick’s text isn’t that surprising. Harry had deliberately left while Nick was still announcing a record and had just waved, telling Louis that they really needed to get going because he was expected at the studio within 15 minutes. And so all they did was wave. There was no time for an elaborate goodbye, no possibility to exchange phone numbers. Nick gave them a questioning look when they walked out, and Harry and Louis waved again.

But as usual, Nick didn’t give up that easily and here he was texting Harry for Louis’ number. So it hadn’t been all in Harry’s head. The two of them really hit it off. ‘Let’s just postpone the hole flirting situation between my dear friend and my sexy roommate, shall we?’ is what Harry thought when he sent his reply.

_I’ll ask him if it’s okay when I get home again, At the studio now._

Niall and Liam were already there, and seemed to be discussing a lyric since both of them were gesticulating quite heavily while pointing at the piece of paper in front of them.

“Hi guys.” Harry said as he walked in. “How long have you been here? Any progress already?” Both of them immediately turned around and focused on Harry.

“Hi radio star! Interesting interview you just gave there mate!” Niall said.

“Yeah, I felt like I had some making up to do… Did you hear the entire bit?”

“Uhu. Heard you denying the guy rumors for the umpteenth time.” Liam chipped in.

“Let’s not go there. Don’t feel like discussing that.” Harry stated, and that’s that.

“So, this Louis guy is really living with you now then?” Niall asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah, it just kinda happened.” Harry smiled. “He’s so funny you know, even though he did not seem like that on tv. But he really is, we had the most wonderful weekend together!”

“What, you shagging him?” Niall was, as always, not beating around the bush.

“No you idiot! I said he was funny, and that we had a fun weekend. How does that mean shagging?”

“Well, your face went all gooey when you said it, and you’ve got that ‘I’m-in-loooove-smile’ upon your face right now.”

“Yeah.” Harry shrugged.

“Wait, what! You _are_ in love with him?”

“Yup.” Harry shrugged again, still with the same dumb smile upon his face.

“What, but you’ve known this guy for like, what, three days?” Liam yelled! “How is that possible?”

“Love at first sight and all that.” Harry almost whispered.

“Oh God. Harry, you’ve got to be kidding me. No way! You’re living with a guy and you are in love with him? You know that’s like the worst living situation possible, right? What if he goes out on a date? What if he brings a date home?”

“Is he even gay?” Niall added to Liam’s questions.  

“I don’t know.” Harry said, and he wasn’t lying. He really didn’t know. For some reason, his gaydar didn’t seem to work around Louis and he had absolutely no idea whether he was straight or not. Nick obviously was interested in him, but that didn’t say anything about Louis, did it now? It might just have been a case of being star struck.

“Waw Harry, you’ve outdone yourself this time. We don’t see you for four days and you manage to fuck up on national tv, to get a new roommate even though you absolutely do not need one, and to feel the wonderful cliche of falling in love at first sight. You’ve certainly been a busy little bee!” Liam exclaimed.

“I’m so fucked.” Harry said.

“Yup.” Niall said.

“Yup.” Liam agreed.


	5. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Nick asked Harry for Louis' number.  
> Harry promised he would ask Louis, and good friends keep their promises.  
> Also, is Louis gay? Or not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a Love Actually inspired chapter... Billy Mack's quotes are genius!

After a full day with a radio interview in the morning and writing until the evening, Harry returned home to find Louis in his couch. He was wearing joggers and had seated himself quite comfortably, legs stretched, headphones in and typing on his laptop. Harry didn’t feel like disturbing him to ask about giving his number to Nick so when he quickly retreated. Instead, he went to the kitchen and found a plate of leftover pasta in the fridge that Louis must have cooked. He took his time eating it, mentally preparing himself to talk to Louis about Nick. Yugh.

Imagine Louis and Nick hooking up. Yugh.

Imagine Louis and Nick kissing. Yugh.

Imagine Louis and Nick. Yugh.

When he entered the living room for a second time half an hour later, Louis didn’t seem to have moved at all. Harry showed himself this time, and Louis immediately removed his headphones and made room to join him on the couch.

“You’re back! I made pasta, there’s a plate for you in the fridge.” Louis said.

“Yeah, I found it. Just finished it, it was delicious.”

“What, you’ve been home for quite a while then?”

“Half an hour, give or take.”

“And you didn’t say anything? You didn’t come and get me? Oh Harry!” Louis threw his hands in the air as if Harry had committed a mortal sin. “Why didn’t you say anything? I would have joined you for dinner. I hate eating alone! Don’t you?”

“But you ate alone. Why did you?”

“Because I was hungry. And I hate being hungry more than I hate eating alone. Easy. And maybe a fair warning for the future, I’m the hangry type. Just so you know.”

“Hangry?” Harry looked confused.

“Yes. I get angry when I’m hungry. Angry plus Hungry equals Hangry.” Louis spoke extremely show, as if he was explaining the concept to a toddler. Harry should have been offended but all he could do was smile.

“Hangry. Right. Noted. I’ll make sure to avoid Hangry Louis.”

“Please do. It’ll be ugly if you ever meet him. He’ll bite your nose off, and he’ll call you names for no reason at all, and he’ll push you around until you put chocolate into his mouth.”

“You know, I really do despise people who talk about themselves in the third person.” Harry said, giving Louis his most serious look.

“So do I.” Louis nodded, equally serious as Harry, adding a frown to make his point. “But Hangry Louis isn’t me. Really, it’s like I’m schizophrenic or something. Or a werewolf. It’s just a part of me that I can’t control. I’m not proud of it, put I cannot take responsibility for Hangry Louis. If he appears, there’s nothing you can do. You can try to talk to me, remind me of who I really am, but it won’t work.”

“Are you comparing yourself to Professor Lupin now?”

“You got that, eh? Bonus points Styles.”

Harry grew a few inches taller as soon as Louis mentioned the bonus points. It was stupid, really. Harry was acting like a child. Even worse, when it came to Louis he literally WAS a child. But still, a happy child. He didn’t feel like ruining their fun conversation, especially not now Harry Potter had been added as a topic, but he did make a promise to Nick.

“So anyway, I’ve got a favour to ask.” Harry asked. He had postponed the inevitable subject long enough.

“Oooh, Mister Fancy Pants wants a favour from me! I’m intrigued. Do tell millionaire, how on earth can I lighten your day?” Louis stated all official, and Harry couldn’t help but chuckle. He really didn’t want to bring up Nick, but. A promise. He made a promise. Yugh. He was never going to make promises again. Promises suck.

“Sooooo….” Harry really didn’t feel like asking him.

“Sooooo?” Louis repeated.

Promises suck. But, Harry Styles has always been, and forever will be, an honest friend. And he made a promise to his friend Nick.

“So, Nick asked me something about you.” Harry said. Louis’ eyes immediately lit up.

“Nick? Nick Grimshaw? About me?”

“Yup.” Harry shrugged. He could already predict how this was going to end. Within five minutes, he would be alone on this couch and Louis would be texting Nick in his room.

“He asked me for your number.”

“He wanted my number? But he hasn’t texted me, has he? I didn’t get any texts today.”

“No, I didn’t give him your number yet. I just wanted to check if you were okay with it, before I handed out your number to random strangers.” Harry said.

“First of all, Nick Grimshaw is not a random stranger. He is my all-time favourite radio host! And second, Nick Grimshaw wants MY number? Little old me?” Louis pointed at himself?” And then he jumped up and started dancing around the couch. He started singing as well: “Cause you don’t have my number, we don’t need each other now. You can't steal my thunder 'cause you don’t have my lover’s touch. You don’t have my number and I don’t need no one else. And I don’t need these city streets, the creed or the culture now.”

“Foals, with My Number.” Harry merely remarked.

“Yup. Great song, isn’t it? Although I might have to change the lyrics… ‘Cause you don’t have my number… YET.’ Because in one minute, he will have my number. Right Styles?”

“Sure.” Harry took out his mobile and searched for Nick in between his contacts, and Louis quickly copied the number into his own mobile. And just like that, the conversation ended, because Louis started texting. Nick apparently replied within 30 seconds.

“I’m going to my room.” Louis said, and he basically ran out of the living room.

Within one minute, Harry’s prediction had become a reality.

“Alone again. Naturally.” Harry stated to no one.

 

 

Fifteen minutes later, Louis appeared again. His hair had been put up in a quiff, and his joggers bottom had been replaced by a skinny jeans. He looked gorgeous. So gorgeous. Harry may still have been in doubt about Louis’ sexuality, but tonight seemed to reveal that Louis didn’t mind dating men. As soon as he had put his head through the door, Harry didn’t want Louis to say anything. He already had a sneaky suspicion what Louis was going to announce.

“I’m meeting Nick for drinks. Don’t wait up!” He gave Harry a wink and left. Yup, exactly what Harry had feared he was going to say. A true mind reader, he was. A second later, Harry’s mobile buzzed.

_AAAH Big News! I’m meeting Louis for drinks! Thanks thanks thanks matey! Nick x x x_

Imagine Louis and Nick hooking up. Yugh.

Imagine Louis and Nick kissing. Yugh.

Imagine Louis and Nick. Yugh.

“Alone again. Obviously.” Harry repeated.

/////

 

 

During breakfast, Louis was cheerful. And that was an understatement. Cheer-ful, Emphasis on both of the syllables, because that’s what he was. Cheerful. A huge smile was plastered on his face from the second he entered the kitchen,

“So, what is our Mister Fancy Pants up to today?” Louis asked. While SMILING bigtime. Obviously still happy from his date with Nick. Gay, then.

“Another day of writing. Nothing special.” Harry said. He really wanted to ask Louis about yesterday evening, about his ‘drinks with Nick’, but he simply was too shy. He enjoyed Louis’ company, they had shared several pleasant conversations so far, Harry thought he had felt some kind of connection, but the bottom line was that he really didn’t know Louis that well. Not at all. They had met less than a week ago. So, Harry was too shy. He didn’t ask. All he knew is that Louis had arrived at 2 at night, so it must have been a fun evening. Louis had been super quiet while walking through the house, but since Harry was still wide awake, he had heard him anyway. Not that he was waiting for Louis to return home. Not at all. No no no, that would be wrong.

Right?

“So, don’t you want to know how my evening progressed yesterday as soon as I left your sorry ass here?” Louis asked. Still looking incredibly cheerful. He was beautiful when he was smiling like that.

“Well, I don’t know you that well, but I do know Nick so I’ve got a sneaky suspicion…” Harry forced a smile. And that triggered Louis to start.

“Oh my God, he knows so much about music. He’s like a walking lyrics website. They should call him wikilyricia or something. Wait no, that doesn’t sound very good.”

“Wikilyricnickia?” Harry offered?

“Nice try, that’s even worse Styles. I thought you had a way with words?”

“I usually do.” Harry admitted. Just not so much when Louis was around.

“But apparently not today. Promising start of a day if you’re going to go write new songs. Maybe you should just stay home, entertain me a bit.” Louis was still looking incredibly cheerful. Still beautiful.

“Why? Any spectacular plans?”

“Nope, not until tonight that is…” Louis gave him a smug look. Harry already knew the answer before he popped the question.

“Why, what are you doing tonight?”

“I’m meeting Nick again. Continue what we started yesterday! We soooo hit it off! He’s just so cool! Like, so down to earth. And he knows so much. Really, we discussed about a thousand different lyrics. It was sick!” Louis exclaimed. Still looking extremely cheerful. Still extremely beautiful.

Yugh.

Harry didn’t need any extra information about the date and so he started clearing his plate and his cup of tea, and fled to the sink. There, he was rinsing his plate doing his utmost to ignore cheerful Louis when the latter tapped his shoulder.

“Soooo, remember how yesterday you asked me for a favour?”

“I do.” Harry answered. No regrets there about that particular favour. None at all.

“Well, today it’s me who is asking for a favour.” Harry turned and gave Louis a quizzical look.

“That gives me the upper hand now, doesn’t it?” Harry smiled.

“Mate, you _always_ have the upper hand here. This is your house, you are a popstar, a millionaire, girls all around the world adore you, and I’m just an unemployed nobody. You’re winning in life. I’m losing bigtime. Trust me, you have the upper hand 24/7.”

“Sorry,” Harry felt bad instantly. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Jeez, that’s okay. You don’t have to apologize as if it’s the worst thing in the world. It’s not as if I’m bothered by it. Just give me a couple of weeks to rebound and get a job again, alright? And yes, you may have the upper hand, but I’m still funnier than you!” Louis exclaimed.

“No arguments here. You are the master of jokes in this house. I bow to the King of Hilariousness!” And Harry really took a bow. Louis chuckled, and Harry couldn’t help but smile again. There, the mood was okay again. “Now, what kind of favour were you talking about?”

“You know I don’t have any plans for the day, right? So I, like, need to do something. Keep myself busy. Is it okay if I paint one of the walls in my room?” Louis gave him a look that could be compared to a kid begging for a Christmas gift when he meets Santa Claus. Such an innocent face. Harry couldn’t help but smile. Again. Yugh, he wished he could control that smile a bit more.

“Paint one of the walls? What colour did you have in mind?”

“Don’t know yet. I’ll decide when I get to the store. If you agree, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Harry repeated.

“So you agree?” Louis gave him a hopeful look.

“Sure. As long as you don’t turn the room into a batcave or anything, it’s fine by me. Everything is white in there because I couldn’t be bothered to do anything about those walls since I’m not using the room anyway. So yeah, it would actually be nice if you could bring some ambience into the room.”

“Bring some ambience into the room?” Louis repeated. “Styles, sometimes you sound extremely gay and about seventy years old.” Wow, this was an odd turn in the conversation. Louis obviously still didn’t know that Harry was gay. To admit, or not to admit…

“I’m not seventy, but I am gay you know.” Harry said. The words escaped his mouth before he realised it. Nobody knew he was gay, only people he trusted. He really trusted. He knew Louis less than a week, and he had just revealed his biggest secret.

“You’re gay?”

“You know my type. Married to my job. And gay as a picnic basket.”

“Are you quoting Love Actually on me now?”

“Yup.” Harry really had no idea where this conversation was going. He seemed to have lost his mind reading skills overnight.

“But… But…” Louis seemed to be lost for words.

“You don’t know what to say? That’s a first.” Harry chuckled. And just precisely at that moment he realised that Louis might be lost for words because he was not okay with living with a gay man. Right. Normally that may be information that you would share with someone before you move in together. Oops.

“But all the girls love you!” Louis said.

“Yes. I love them too. As fans. As fans who bought our first album, our festering turd of a record. As fans who buy our recent albums, which we write ourselves you know.”

“I never would have guessed.” Louis whispered.

“Shit, are you not okay with this? I’m sorry if this is weird for you. I should have told you sooner. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Oh God, I’m rambling, aren’t I. Please Louis, can you just say something?” Harry wanted to take it all back. His confession of being gay, and his jokes about his records that weren’t appropriate now.

“Oh God no!” Louis yelled. “No Harry, don’t apologize. That’s like, very, really, extremely, incredibly, not necessary.”

“Okay, good. You had me worrying there for a second.”

“No worries. All is good. So, about that wall. Can I paint it?” And just like that, Louis jumped back to their earlier conversation. Harry had so much more to say, and so much more to ask, but apparently the all revealing gay conversation was over. It would be weird for him to start discussing it again, since Louis obviously was not interested in Harry’s sexuality. That kind of confirmed Louis’ sexuality then. The fact that he was so eager to meet up with Nick had planted a bit of doubt in Harry’s mind, because he still had no idea whether Louis was straight or gay. But the answer had to be straight.  
Straight, because he did not want to discuss it any further.  
Straight, because he was weirded out when Harry said he was gay, even though he recovered after a minute.  
Straight, because he never said ‘a date with Nick’, but he used the term ‘drinks with Nick’ so he must have been fanboying over his radio idol.  
Straight, because when discussing ‘drinks with Nick’ he only mentioned them discussing lyrics, not going back home and fucking each other’s brains out.

There, confirmed. Louis was straight. Good luck getting over this crush, Styles.

“Sure! How about you send me a picture of the colours when you’re at the store, and I’ll help you deciding? That way it won’t be a colour that I really despise.”

“Excellent!” Louis put his fingers together as if he were Mister Burns from The Simpsons. “I’ll get started right now. Do you have any brushes and tape, or should I buy that as well?”

“I don’t have anything, this entire place was painted by a, wait for it, professional painter. It cost me about 2000 quid.”

“Styles, you loser. You paid someone to paint everything white?”

“Well, it’s not as if I had time to do it. I was on different world tours, you know. Songs to sing, girls to entertain.” Harry winked.

“Don’t go all superstar on me, you’re better than that. I’ll text you when I’m at the store.” And even though the statement may have been a bit crude, Harry was sure he spotted a smile on Louis’ face when he said it. But, it was time to head to the studio, so the conversation was definitely over.

Later that morning, while he was discussing the second verse of a new song called ‘Love Actually is All Around’, he got three Whatsapp messages from Louis.  All three of them where pictures of colour samples that Louis held in front of him while making funny faces. Niall felt no shame and placed his head on Harry’s shoulder to get a good look at the pictures of Louis as well.

“What are you up to Styles? Painting your house together with your new roommate? Are you making it official?”

“No.” Harry said, “He’s going to paint a wall in his room, and he’s just making sure that I don’t hate the colour that he’s going to use since it’s my house and all.”

“Polite guy.” Liam said.

“Decent dude.” Niall agreed.

“He sure is.” Harry said.

“Now, will you let me take a good look at him?” Niall yelled, and he scooped up Harry’s mobile before he realised it. Niall stared at the screen, and when the mobile buzzed again, his facial expression transformed from entertained into instantly shocked into grinning within a matter of seconds.

“What is it?” Liam and Harry asked him together.

“Uhm, he just sent you another text. I think you better read this one yourself.”

**BTW, dont worry about the awkward gay thingy this morning. Im gay too. Surprise!**


	6. Mum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right, so Louis came out to Harry via text, and now they'll have to discuss it.

**BTW, dont worry about the awkward gay thingy this morning. Im gay too. Surprise!**

Harry kept on rereading the text. He couldn’t seem to link all of these facts together: A) They had a conversation this morning. B) Harry came out to him. C) Harry had thought that he had made Louis uncomfortable. D) Louis didn’t say that much. E) Louis sends him a text to say that he’s gay.

A, B, C and D were all easy enough to understand without further explanations. A, V, C and D made perfect sense. But how on earth did E match those other four? Why didn’t Louis say anything during breakfast? Why did he let Harry think that he had made him uncomfortable? Why didn’t he come out, which would have been easy, a piece of cake really, a walk in the park, … You know, Harry said it first anyway, so it would have been oh so easy for Louis to say something. But he didn’t. He chose to wait, he chose to let Harry feel like shit, and then he dropped a bomb like that via a text. Who does that? Really, who does that?

Louis Tomlinson, that’s who.

What a little piece of shit he is.

But.

That doesn’t change anything about the content of the terribly timed text message. Louis is gay as well. Harry might actually stand a chance. Something might happen in the future. Kisses could happen. Touching could happen. Shagging could happen. Because Louis is gay. Louis is still in his reach.

Yay!

////

Louis was cooking when Harry walked in after another day of writing. Harry couldn’t help but smile, because here they were, already acting properly domestic. Imagine the same scenario but add Louis kissing him when he walked in to it. For Harry, that would be the definition of paradise. 

“Hi!” He said, still feeling cheerful after a successful day of writing, and even more cheerful now that he had discovered Louis in his kitchen.

“Hi.” Louis answered. “So, if I take a look at your happy puppy face, I take it you’re not at mad at me for my text?”

“Why would I be mad?” Harry answered.

“Well, it was premium coward behaviour on my side. I could have said something this morning you know, about my gayness and all.”

“Your gayness and all,” Harry snorted. “You make it sound as if it’s something terrible.”

“Well, that’s probably one of the reasons why I didn’t say anything in the first place. It still feels like a terrible thing to admit to someone. And when you just casually dropped it in our talk, you just kind of… Like, you just took me off guard I think? I wish I could announce it as proudly as you did.”

Harry’s cheerful mood disappeared in a flash, because what Louis had just said was just shocking. Here in front of him, was Louis, one of the most stunning men on earth. Always hilarious. Super intelligent. Good conversationalist. Enormous heart. Extremely confident. And yet, for some strange reason he wasn’t comfortable discussing his own sexuality. Harry felt an immediate need to comfort him.

“How is that possible? Why would it be a terrible thing? You are great! Really Louis, You’re a great person, being gay doesn’t take anything away from that. I mean, like, you’re just such a cool guy and…” Harry stopped himself. He needed to stop talking, quickly please, because he sounded absolutely ridiculous. Really, a bit desperate even. He might as well just shout ‘Hey Louis, I’m in love with you.’ And that was not what this conversation was going to be about. Hell no. He was going to boost Louis’ ego, because he deserved it. That had nothing to do with Harry, so he needed to leave his own feelings out of this. It was all about Louis now.

Louis just chuckled. “Easy there cowboy, that’s way too many compliments in one sentence.”

“No, but…” Harry was lost for words. Boost. Ego. Louis. Coherent sentences were a bit hard at the moment. He tried again: “You shouldn’t feel terrible about admitting that you like men. It doesn’t define you as a person. It’s just one part of you, isn’t it?”

“That’s all nice in theory,” Louis shrugged, “But it doesn’t always work that way, does it? Some people just don’t take it too well when you tell them you’re gay. Some friendships just seem to end after that announcement. Some people will never let you forget.” During his statement, Louis seemed to shrink. He literally seemed to become smaller while talking.

“What happened?” Harry asked. There must be a reason. Something must have happened to make Louis think this way.

“You know what? I really don’t want to talk about this right now. How about we’ll get drunk tomorrow, and then I’ll feel more comfortable discussing all this serious sappy crap.” Louis stated. “The food is ready by the way. I made a chicken curry, if that’s alright?”

“Louis, you cooked. Anything you prepare is alright.” Harry obviously noticed the switch from sad, serious Louis to happy, fun Louis. He decided not to press the matter and just follow Louis’ lead. He would talk whenever he wanted to talk. No need to push him.

“Jeez, you make it sound as if I am some kind of master chef. This is pretty basic stuff you know. Chicken. Veggies. Curry. Tadaaaa!”

“You cooked for me. That makes you a master chef in my eyes.”

“You know, I really didn’t cook for you. I cooked for _me_ , and _you_ just happen to live here too, and since I’m a pretty decent guy, I decided to make some more so you could eat as well.”

“ _I_ just happen to live here? Mate, this is my house!” And just like that, Harry was smiling again. Banter with Louis, his favourite part of the day.

“No need for you to get all territorial on my ass. In that case, this is your house, but my food. No curry for you mister.”

“Wait what?”

“You heard me.” Louis deadpanned. “You get all cheeky and manly claiming this is _your_ house, well, two can play that game.” Louis pointed at the pan filled with a deliciously smelling yellow curry: “This is _my_ curry.”

“Are you going to make me beg?” Harry gave him his most innocent pout, as if he were some cute little four-year-old, begging for some more chocolates.

“Mmmm, I do love it when I can get a man to beg me.” Louis stated. Harry flushed, and he could feel himself turning red. It wouldn’t be hard for Louis to get Harry to beg, for pretty much anything, but Louis did not need to know that, thank you very much.

So much room for innuendo, so little confidence. Harry decided upon playing it safe and just ignore it all together. Ignore, yes, but not forget. Louis likes it when a man begs. Noted.

“Please Louis, I’ll do anything.” Harry pouted, all innocent.

“Styles, you’re making me uncomfortable here.”

“Please Louis.” Harry said it with his deepest voice, emphasising the ‘please’ part. He looked him in his eyes and saw how Louis quickly turned around to start stirring into the pan again. How had this happened? They were discussing food! And all of the sudden, Harry was begging. It was impossible to predict any kind of conversation or situation whenever Louis was involved. Really, unpredictability could be added to the Long List of Louis’ qualities. A list that might actually exist for real in Harry’s mobile.

“You know what, I had this coming, didn’t I? I made you squirm this morning, in your awkward coming out talk, so it’s only fair that you tease me now. Good to know that you’re not beneath begging Styles.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m really not.” Harry was honest now. He really wasn’t.

Louis placed two plates upon the table and filled both of them with his curry.

“Your begging skills paid off.” Louis said, while placing one of the plates in front of Harry.

“They usually do.” Harry chuckled. Oh, once again, there was so much room for innuendo. He wondered whether Louis would interpret his begging skills in a normal or sexual way. To ask, or not to ask…

“Styles, I don’t want to know about your sex life.” Okay. Asking was not necessary then. Noted.

“There’s not that much to know, really. Closeted pop idol, and all that.” And then both boys started eating. The curry was absolutely delicious. Devine even. Who was this beautiful creature living in Harry’s house, preparing these wonderful dishes, making Harry smile? Again, the answer was Louis Tomlinson.

“About that, you’re going to spill the beans as well. You want me to talk about why I don’t feel comfortable coming out, then you shall talk as well my friend, and you shall reveal your secrets. Tomorrow, when we get drunk.” Louis stated, as if Harry wasn’t allowed to object. Which he absolutely did not intend to do. Getting drunk with Louis, why on earth would he decline? Who knows what might happen.

_Don’t go there Styles, don’t get ahead of yourself_.

Louis ate like a bear, filling his mouth as quickly as he could with more more more curry, and before Harry realised it, he was clearing his plate.

“Gotta go mate, I’m meeting Nick again. I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.”

“Nick again?” Harry asked. He was going to kill Nick. Tonight, while Nick was sleeping, he would kill him. And bury him. And make sure that Louis would never mention his name again.

“Yup. Nick and me, we’re like, a great team. We’re really on the same wave length, you know? It’s just easy. And Harry, sorry for making you all uncomfortable this morning. The curry was my peace offering. We’re okay, right?” 

“Right.” Harry heard Louis’ words in his head over and over again – _we’re like, a great team_ –

He hated Nick. So as soon Louis left, he texted him:

**Louis is on his way to you AGAIN. What’s going on there friend?**

His reply came within a minute.

_Harry, you know I don’t kiss and tell ;)_

Yugh. Harry decided the friendship was over. Obviously, Nick didn’t know Harry was in love with Louis and couldn’t be blamed for liking him, but still. He _really_ hated Nick now. Harry was alone in his couch, and Nick had Louis over and … He shouldn’t go there with his thoughts, bad idea. So he did what any adult would do in the same situation.

He called his mum.

 

/////

 

His telephone conversations with his mum were legendary. Mostly legendary breezy, although whenever Harry called she usually was able to sneak three serious minutes into their light and bubbly conversations as well. This time, it was no different. They talked about every member of the family, updates on boyfriends, illnesses, jobs and what else. They talked about every single dish they both had eaten that week, and which ones they liked best. They discusses the last episodes of Doctor Who, and how the ending might have been better.

After half an hour of talking, it was time for the three serious minutes.

“So Harry, is there any reason in particular why you called? Anything to say?”

“Well, you know…” Harry started.

“I heard you’ve got a roommate now. Why on earth would you get a roommate? You’re not a struggling twentysomething as all of the characters in Friends. You’re a millionaire, you’re going to have to explain this roommate thing to me.”

Harry sighed. He was getting tired of giving the same explanation over and over again. Maybe he should just send out a press release upon the matter. ‘Yes, Harry Styles’s got a roommate. Leave him alone.’ Something like that.

“It was my fault that he lost his position at university. I accused him of publishing an incorrect PhD and he couldn’t return. They took his grant and his flat. Since it’s my fault, I thought I’d do the right thing and offer him a room. My house’s large enough.”

“You thought you would do the right thing.” His mother repeated, and chuckled. “Oh God Harry, I always taught you to be polite, but this is a bit of an exaggeration on the politeness front, isn’t it?”

“But he’s so much fun mum.”

“Aaaah, so there’s an ulterior motive why you asked him to move in?”

“Ok, the truth is actually… I’m in love.”

“Sorry?”

“I know it’s way too soon to say that you’re in love. But I fell in love the moment I met him backstage at the tv show. We just clicked, you know? The truth is I’m in love with Louis and I was before I asked him to move in with me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Oh, OK, right. Well Harry, I must say I’m a little relieved.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know, I thought it might be something worse than this. You just sounded so serious when you started talking about this Louis situation. I thought he might have robbed you in the meantime, or he was planning to invite his entire family to live in your house as well. I really expected something worse.

“Worse than the total agony of being in love?” Harry asked incredulously?

“Oh. No, you’re right. Yeah, total agony.”

 

/////

 

At midnight, Harry was in his bed, tossing and turning, and pretending really hard to be asleep when he heard Louis enter the house. He could hear him walk straight to Harry’s door, and then… nothing. Harry lay absolutely still, listening to what had happened. He was pretty sure Louis had stopped in front of his door, but since he didn’t hear anything anymore, he started thinking if maybe he had been imagining things. Ten seconds passed, and no sound. Half a minute, and still the entire house was quiet.

And then, a knock a door. A tentative knock, and a soft voice outside: “Harry? Harry, are you still awake?”

“Yeah. Come in.” Harry answered. The door creaked open, and there was Louis. Harry wondered what caused him to wait half a minute before knocking on the door, but decided not to bother him. Maybe he had just been texting or something.

So basically, this exact moment was what Harry had been waiting for. Louis walking in his room, while Harry was in bed, wearing nothing but boxers. But it was painfully obvious that there was nothing sexual about Louis’ visit. He didn’t even look at Harry’s torso, that was naked and entirely revealed above the blankets. No interest. No looks. Noted.

“Harry, during dinner tonight we said that we were going to get drunk tomorrow and you know, talk. Really talk about some issues, right?”

“Right.” Harry confirmed.

“Yeah, about that. Can we postpone it a bit? Nick and I are meeting again tomorrow, and I’d like to take a rain check. How about, like, we do it on Friday? That work for you?” Harry had stopped listening as soon as Louis had mentioned Nick. Really, again Nick? He hadn’t been in a bad mood, he just couldn’t sleep as long as Louis hadn’t returned yet. But now, within half a minute, his mood had worsened. He wished his mum was here to hear Louis’ announcement and she would confirm that being love was indeed nothing more than total agony.

“Sure. Friday, it’s a date.” He replied. As soon as he had said it, he wished he could take it back. Why oh why would he use the word date? Did he really have to make everything awkward?

“A date?” Louis repeated.

“You know what I mean,” Harry started explaining, but he was interrupted immediately.

“Oh my God, I’ve got a date with a superstar!” Louis yelled like an excited fangirl and he started dancing across the room. It was clear that he had had a few drinks while he was at Nick’s, because his dancing skills were a bit … off. And then, he added some singing to his moves: ‘Baby baby we've got a date. Oh, baby, baby don't you be late! Oh, baby! I'll meet you at your house at a quarter to eight. Oh, darlin', baby, baby, just you have some faith!’

Harry’s foul mood had disappeared in an instant. Louis was in his room, obviously a bit drunk, but he was there nonetheless. And he was dancing. And he was singing. Louis really had a beautiful voice. Just like that, Harry’s face lit up and he was smiling again at the ravishing creature dancing and singing in front of him.

“He superstar, did you recognize the song and the lyrics? Otherwise the date’s off.”

“Pressure’s on now, isn’t it?” Harry smiled. He knew the song, obviously. But he wasn’t going to tell Louis immediately, otherwise he might leave and go to bed. And that was a no-go. Harry’s plan of action was fairly simple: distract him and keep him here. As long as possible.

“Well, I’ll have you know that I have my standards. I only date Lyrics enthusiasts.”

“Lyric Lovers.” Harry corrected him.

“Lyric Lovers.” Louis repeated. “I like the sound of that. Yes, I only date Lyric Lovers, because I’m such an enormous lyric lover myself.”

“You’re not the only one in the room you know.”

“Twat. I know that, mister superstar-I-write-my-own-lyrics. But I see what you’re doing here. You’re changing the subject because you’ve got no clue which classic I was just singing to you. Busted!”

“I do have a clue actually. It was a reggae classic, wasn’t it?” Oh yes, this was Harry stalling at his best. You know, just casually mentioning the genre would give Louis the impression that he might actually know the song. And then Louis would want to check Harry’s knowledge, and by doing so he would stay a bit longer. _Well played Styles_.

“Reggae, yes. You’re stalling Styles. Do you know the lyrics or not?” Right. Louis saw straight through his little trick. That’s just scary.

“Bob Marley!” He shouted enthusiastically.

“Tsss, that’s not an answer Harry. Half of the reggae songs that you know are probably by Bob Marley. I’m going to need a title.”

“Baby, We’ve Got A Date.” Harry sang.

“Bonus points Styles. Once again.” Louis said, and he walked out of Harry’s room. Harry was still smiling while he heard Louis’ own door open and close. Within two minutes, he was asleep.


	7. I Never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wants to come out, so he decides to talk to his bandmates.  
> Louis and Harry play 'I never' with lyrics, obviously.

On Friday, Liam, Harry and Niall had just finished a song and after that the three boys immediately went into weekend modus. They were excitedly chatting away about random things: how Liam was going to spend his weekend, Niall’s new golf clubs, and Harry’s new pair of shoes. It felt like perfect timing for Harry. He had been thinking about popping _the_ question to the boys for an entire week now, but this, now they all were relaxed after a busy week, this seemed to be the perfect moment. Niall and Liam were in a great mood, it had been a great day of writing, and so the conditions for _the talk_ were just great. The talk. The possibly life changing talk.

Here goes nothing.

“Liam, Niall, have you got five more minutes to stay and talk? I’ve got something rather important to ask you guys.” Both boys turned their heads his direction.

“Sure. Ask away!” Niall said enthusiastically. “No shoe advice, though.” He quickly added.

“You’ll never hear me say that shoes aren’t important. Obviously. But, the thing I want to talk to you about is a bit more important than that.” Harry said coolly, trying to keep a casual tone. He was super nervous.

“Mate, you’re scaring me a bit.” Liam said a bit more cautious. “What’s up? Is everything alright? Is your family alright?” He gave Harry a worried look.

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry Liam, it’s not like that.” Harry felt bad already. He hadn’t even asked the question yet, and he had already managed to frighten Liam. Good job Styles.

“No, see, the thing is,” He tried to continue, but he was lost for words. This was just sad, really. These two boys were some of his best friends, and he had no idea how to ask them whether it would be okay for him to reveal his sexuality to the world. To the audience. To their fans.

He had to try to ask them. At least try. Whatever their answer might be.

“I’ve been thinking about… Well, I would like to ask your view upon. You know, like,” Words. Words and sentences seemed to be difficult all of the sudden. Harry was squirming, literally squirming and it seemed that Niall took pity on him and he interrupted him.

“Stop right there mate, I think I know where you are going with this.”

“What? No no, let me finish. I just, like, I really… I mean, you know.”

“Harry, do you want to come out of the closet?” Niall asked. Just like that. No beating around the bush, that was the million dollar question that Harry was trying to ask these lovely boys himself. Obviously, Niall beat him to it.

“Yes.” He nodded. Unable to explain any of it, but glad to confirm it nonetheless. “I do, I really do.”

“Finally!” Niall cheered, and both he and Liam smiled and gave each other a high five.

“That’s great Harry!”

“We’ve been waiting forever for this!”

“It’s about bloody time indeed!”

“What made you change your mind?”

“How do you want to do this?”

“Does your cute roomie have anything to do with this?”

Both boys threw all of their questions to Harry, and the latter didn’t really know how to answer all of them at once.

“Slow down boys, slow down.”

“Sorry Harry, we got a bit carried away, didn’t we? Sorry about that. How about you talk for a bit, and we’ll just listen. No pressure. Just talk to us.” Liam explained seriously. Really, in this moment Harry loved Liam. He seemed to understand exactly what is was that Harry needed right now.

And so, Harry started talking. Just one minute earlier, he had been lost for words, but now that he had finally found the courage to discuss the issue, he was like a waterfall and he couldn’t be stopped. So he told them all of the reasons why he did not want to hide his sexuality any longer. He told them about his previous two crushes and how nothing had happened, could even have happened because he wasn’t allowed, he discussed how difficult it was for him to play the role of womanizer in interviews, he talked about previous quick one-night stands and the mess they created and how empty he felt afterwards, he admitted to Liam that he was incredibly jealous of his long-lasting relationship, and finally he discussed how he desperately wanted a mature relationship. He took his time to describe what he wanted, how he really wanted someone he could take care of, and mutually someone who would take care of him, someone to spend the lonely nights with, someone who would still be there for breakfast, someone who would simply make him smile. 

And when he said that out load, admitting that he wanted someone who made him smile, he knew that he had Louis in mind while he was giving his monologue. Because basically, that is exactly what Louis had done since day one: he had made Harry smile.

When he stopped talking, he looked up again to see Liam and Niall giving him the most understanding look in the world, ever.

“Mate, I’m so happy to hear you say this. You have no idea.” Liam said.

“Yeah Harry, finally. Just, finally. Whatever brought this on?” Niall added

“I don’t know really. I just don’t want to lie anymore.”

“Could this have anything to do with your roommate that you fell in love with as soon as you met him?” Niall frowned. “You know, or is it just a happy coincidence?”

“He may have helped, but it’s so much more. A lot has happened these last days, right? You heard me on Grimmy’s show last week, you know what I’ve posted on Instagram and I just don’t care anymore. I had a call from management to discuss how we are going to solve this and I just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to come up with excuses anymore, or go on fake dates, or any of that shit for that matter. I just want to be honest.”

“Sure mate. We completely understand.”

“But, are you sure you understand what it might mean for the band? I mean, you’ve seen our audiences all across the globe. A lot of the people who pay to come and watch us, are girls. Are you sure you are okay with me messing that up? Some of them might be disappointed. Some of them might decide they don’t want to be our fans anymore.”

“Harry…” Liam started, and then seemed to think about his answer for a second. “Harry, I’m not sure what you are asking of us. Do you actually think that we might have a problem with you coming out? Are you asking for our permission or something?”

“Well, it would have an impact on you as well. On our band. So yeah, I’m asking your permission.”

“Mate, I love you, but that’s just stupid.” Liam stated, and Niall nodded frantically.

“Yeah Harry, come on. You are our friend. The band is important, but not as important as your happiness. Seriously Harry, you don’t need our permission.”

“But I do need it.” Harry almost whispered.

“Oh God, when are you going to understand what we are trying to tell you?” Niall was almost shouting now. He pointed at himself and at Liam: “We, as in Liam and Niall, your bandmates, hereby give you official permission to come out of the closet.”

“And, we, Niall and Liam, are super proud of you and we will support you all the way.” Liam added.

“And, we, Liam and Niall, are going to make sure that you won’t get hurt in the process.”

“And, we, Niall and Liam, firmly believe that it this will not affect the band or our fans. They love you anyway, doesn’t matter if you like boys or not.”

“And, we, Liam and Niall…” Niall hesitated for a second. “I’m sorry, I’m out of ideas. But yeah Harry, go for it. And within a couple of weeks you’ll be able to snog your cute roommate for the whole world to see.”

“Uhm, that’s not going to happen. I think he’s dating Nick.”

“What? Nick, as in Nick Grimshaw? Your friend?” Niall seemed infuriated.

“Yeah, I didn’t tell him about my little crush. He must have thought Louis was cute as well, and he beat me to it.”

“But you’re not sure they’re dating?” Liam asked.

“Well, he’s been going to Nick’s every evening, so something is definitely going on there… I haven’t asked him about the specifics, because I just really don’t want to know. Yugh. I like Nick, but the thought of Nick and Louis together is just disgusting.”

Niall and Liam just laughed together.

“Boy Harry, you’ve got it bad. You’re still as screwed as you were last week.”

“Even worse I guess. Living with someone who you really like who’s dating one of your best friends. That’s just a bit pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Harry Styles, Pathetic Loser.” Niall said.

“Harry Styles, Miserable Artist.” Liam added.

“Harry Styles, Pitiful Failure.” Harry confirmed. The three of them laughed.

“Well, at least you got one positive thing out of it. You are ready to come out.”

Harry just put his hands in the air and waved, while adding the most sarcastic “Yay!” ever heard.

 

////

 

As soon as he had left the boys, he made a call to his manager Jeff to officially confirm that he wanted to come out.

Surprisingly enough, Jeff was really understanding. Just as Niall and Liam, he kind of gave of a ‘finally-vibe’ when Harry was explaining his side of the story. He agreed with pretty much everything Harry said, and not once did he mention that it might be a bad idea.

Jeff asked him how he wanted to approach this, and Harry just chose for the no-big-deal approach. Really, coming out shouldn’t be a big deal anyway. He wasn’t going to lie anymore, but he also wasn’t going to take action himself. And at one point in the future, within a few weeks, a few months or a few years, the press would figure it out. And if they did, it would be okay. It wouldn’t be a big deal and Harry wouldn’t lie. Not anymore.

He was relieved and giddy after the talk and the phone call. Then his mobile buzzed.

**Remember remember! Talking and drinking tonight. Food is on me, you take care of the drinks. Louis x**

And just like that, his day got even better.

 

/////

 

Harry entered the kitchen and placed some shopping bags upon the table in front of Louis.

“I’ve done my bit.” Harry announced proudly and started unloading them. Every single bag was filled with alcohol. He had bought some different bottles of whiskey, gin, rum, and vodka. Then, just for the sake of it, he had bought all the ingredients for one of his favourite shooters, so he also unloaded a bottle of Baileys, Amaretto and Kahlua.

“Wow, you really went all out there mate. Or are you hinting that you want a membership for Alcoholics Anonymous for your birthday?” Louis smirked.

“Well, I didn’t know what you liked, so I kind of bought everything. And you know, alcohol doesn’t expire, right? So these bottles won’t be a waste even if we don’t finish them.”

“You idiot, of course we won’t finish them. If we drink all of this, we’ll both end up in the hospital with our stomachs being pumped. Is that what you want Mister Fancy Pants?” Louis put his hands up and gave him a questioning look. “Are you secretly trying to kill me?”

“No, quite the contrary. I’m going to give you an Orgasm!” Harry stated enthusiastically. Oh yeah, he had a great idea to tease Louis a bit. He was going to play this soooooo cool.

Louis just looked at him with a blank expression.

“You are going to give me a what now?”

“An Orgasm.” Harry gave Louis his biggest grin, “What, you don’t like Orgasms?”

Louis just continued to stare. He didn’t reply. Not a word came from Louis’ lips. Harry was quite satisfied, it hadn’t happened that often that he was able to outsmart Louis. Normally, he always had an answer ready in a second, no matter what. But now, he had reduced Louis to a silent staring boy. He felt pretty content. He felt the need to rub it in.

“Aaah, look at that! Finally, I’ve been able to get the incredible cheeky Mister Tomlinson to shut up for a change. I’m so going to write that in my diary tonight!” Harry gave Louis a wink and still didn’t feel the need to explain what an Orgasm was. Teasing Louis was so much fun.

“No seriously, an orgasm? I meant it when I said that I open up a bit more when I drink, but I didn’t mean it in a sexual way, you twat.” Louis seemed to have rediscovered his ability to speak. Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

“Louis, an Orgasm is my all-time favourite cocktail. It’s a drink that consists of equal parts Baileys, Amaretto and Kahlua.” While he mentioned the required drinks, he raised every bottle of liquor to get his point across. “It is absolutely to die for.”

“To die for?” Louis repeated. “You do realize you sound like a fashionista who saw the new collection on the runway, right?”

“Oh shut up. It’s a great cocktail. It’s delicious. It’s wonderful. It’s exquisite. It’s delightful. It’s yummy. It’s divine. It’s mouth-watering.” And then, Harry ran out of synonyms. He just gave Louis a hopeful look.

“Wow there thesaurus, calm down. I believe you. I’ll try your fucking cocktail, don’t you worry.”

“Will I earn some bonus points if you like it? Harry asked.

“I take it back. You’re not a fashionista. You are a ten-year-old. Harry Styles, you are a child. Bonus points, as if.” He snorted. And just like that, he jumped of his stool and left. “Later.” He waved, and Harry was alone with his 11 bottles of liquor. A couple of minutes later, Harry could hear the shower running and he couldn’t stop thinking about Louis, standing in his shower, naked. 

  /////

 

Half an hour later, Harry was baking cookies when Louis walked into the kitchen again. He needed to distract himself from the fact that Louis was in the shower, and he had decided that baking cookies was the best way to do that. Just working, using his hands, and no time for this thoughts to wonder. But that quickly ended when he was what Louis was wearing. Rugged manly pyjamas printed with all of the different Marvel heroes. Harry had not seen this coming. At all. Louis was just standing there, in pyjamas for crying out loud, looking just adorable. He stared at Louis for a few seconds before he realized that his was behaviour was a bit weird. Just staring and not talking is usually considered to be impolite and a bit rude. Right. He should say something. Conversation and all that.

_Styles, say something, for the love of God_.

“Why are you wearing pyjamas?”

“Because we’re just going to hang out here, right? I mean, a bit of drinking, a bit of eating, a bit of talking in the couch. With you Mr Fancy Pants! I don’t need to dress up for that, do I now?”

Waw. That was just harsh. Here he was, drooling all over Louis because he looked so damn cute in those pyjamas, and Louis just thought that he wasn’t even worth the effort to dress himself up for. Harry might like Louis, but Louis obviously didn’t like Harry. At least not like that.

“No, not at all.”

“Besides, when I’m drunk I’m usually too lazy to undress, so this way I can just roll into the bed. Win-win.” Louis crawled into one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter. “So, I promised you I would take care of dinner but you’re cooking as well? You’re just a proper house maid, aren’t you?”

“I’m just baking cookies. I always get in the mood for sweet things when I’m drunk, so I thought I would plan ahead.” Harry explained while he was kneading the dough.

“See, we’re just _the_ best roommates. Both of us have planned ahead. Another thing we have in common!” Louis exclaimed, while holding his hand up in the air, inviting Harry to high five it. He did. Obviously. While grinning big time.

“Anyway, what’s for dinner, or didn’t you make anything?”

“I promised you dinner, and dinner you shall get. I’m a man of my word.” Louis said. “It’s a good thing you already put the oven on, because I prepared cannelloni, it’s in the fridge. I just need to pop it into the oven for 20 minutes and then it’s ready.”

“Cannelloni?”

“Yes. Cannelloni. You know, a type of pasta, big round tubes that I filled with sauce and ricotta and spinach.”

“Waw, you are secretly a Masterchef after all!”

“Jeez Styles, chill, it’s not haute cuisine. And I may or may not have used a Jamie Oliver video that I paused only fifty times.”

“You sure sound confident about our dinner. At least I’m sure of my cookies, so whatever happens to your cannelloni, we’ll always have dessert.”

“Aah, there’s that wonderful arrogant side of you that I’ve come to love so much.” Louis said, all sarcastically. He frowned at Harry. Then he took his dish out of the fridge and waved it in front of him.” This is going to be the best homemade cannelloni you’ll ever eat. And if not, you can just sue Jamie Oliver. I’m sure you’re rich enough to do so.”

“I am indeed.” Harry nodded.

“Oh God. Arrogance is not charming, you know.”

“I’m not being arrogant Louis, it’s called realism. I am 100% sure I am rich enough.”

Louis started laughing, and so did Harry. Louis placed the dish in the oven and Harry prepared a baking tray for his cookies. A few minutes later, Louis set the table and Harry started working on his cocktails. Twenty minutes later, Louis served the cannelloni and Harry served the drinks. The two of them were being proper domestic, and despite Louis’ earlier comment on how Harry was not worth dressing up for, he was absolutely enjoying himself. They were having so much fun, eating, drinking and just talking about random things that Harry was scared to touch a serious topic. But when they both finished their plates, Louis addressed the topic himself.

“Now, as much as I am enjoying discussing the strengths and weaknesses of these fabulous guys on my pyjamas, weren’t we going to discuss my gayness and your closet-deal?”

“Yup.”

“Shall we get on with it then?”

“How about we clear the table first and move this to the couch?”

“Smooth Styles. Are you seducing me again?” Louis said.

“No!” Harry reacted, a bit too strongly. “I thought, like, you know, since we finished eating, you know, I mean, it might be cosier on the couch.”

“Ramble much?” Louis gave him a smile.

“Shut up. I ate way too much, I just want to lay down.”

“Oh, good point. I take it if you ate too much that you appreciated my cooking efforts?”

“Yes, I loved it. I won’t be suing Jamie Oliver anytime soon.”

“Wicked.” Louis beamed after the praise and Harry couldn’t help but feel completely endeared. Then he started moving again, clearing the table and Louis immediately joined in to help him. Harry put all the plates and cutlery in the dishwasher while Louis brought some empty glasses and a few bottles of liquor to the living room. Harry followed him, carrying a tray of fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies.

“Let’s talk.”

“Let’s.”

Nothing but silenced followed.

“Oh God, this is going to be awkward, isn’t it? Let’s just play I Never with shots.”

“You’re on.” Harry agreed.

 

/////

 

“I never pretended to date a girl just for the general perception of the audience.” Harry stated, and downed his shot of whiskey.

“Mate, you don’t really seem to understand this game, do you now? You are supposed to say stuff that you think might be true for me, to get me to drink. Not just say stuff about yourself and then drink your entire glass. You know _I’ve_ never dated a girl for the general blablabla.”

Harry just shrugged. “I just thought it was easier this way. You know, talking five minutes ago was weird and awkward, so if I just start guessing about you it might take forever and getting our stomachs pumped. And if I recall correctly, you didn’t seemed too enthusiastic about the prospect of being hospitalized. So, if I just admit things about myself, and you do the same, while drinking, we’re still talking about all of these things, right? And nobody’s stomach will be harmed in the process.”

“Harry, great idea! Sometimes your intelligence surprises me. Sometimes you’re more than just a pretty superstar.”

“Sometimes? I have these brains and therefore my intelligence at my disposal 24/7 Louis.”

“See, and there’s that arrogance again. Get it into your head Styles, nobody likes arrogant people.” Harry just gave him an innocent smile, and Louis smiled right back at him. Oh God, such a cute smile.

“But really, your girlfriends were fake?”

“They weren’t girlfriends! I just went on dates with them.”

“But, why?”

“Because I had to. Management thought it would be better. I didn’t really think about it that much, I just thought it was a part of my job. They said how I was in a boyband and that all of our revenues came from young girls. Girls who had the impression that they might be our next date, that they might stand a chance with us. If they knew I’m gay, they might not like our band anymore. That’s the short version of the explanation. Trust me, if my previous manager gives you the entire explanation, he makes it sound as if it’s rocket science and you’ll believe him no matter what.”

“That’s just sad mate. But you said, previous manager? So it’s over now?”

“Yup, no more. I got a new manager last year, and he doesn’t make me do these things. He’s a friend. And, you know, he respects me as an artist and as a person, so he would never ever go there. Thank God.”

“But why? I mean, I get the boyband-thingy, and the fact that your audience is mainly female, but what about the girls you fake-dated? Did they know? Did you have fun? Did you. I mean, euh…” Louis stopped talking and seemed to be thinking about the right words for his next question.

“Yes, all of them knew. It was always a mutual arrangement, since it was good promo for them as well, you know? And fun, well, that depended on the girls themselves, really. Some of them were genuinely sweet girls. Some of them were snakes.” And then Harry coughed “Taylor”. And he coughed again “Swift”.

Louis chuckled, and in an instant his face was all serious again.

“Mate, I’m glad that period is over for you. Really. It’s 2017 for crying out loud. People should like you for your music, not for who you might be dating.”

“Yeah well, there’s no business like show business I guess?” Harry shrugged.

“Arrogance Styles. Arrogance.”

“Whatever. We’re talking about me again, I thought you were supposed to do the talking this evening Tomlinson.”

“Mate, don’t call me that. It makes you sound like a fifteen-year-old who is desperately trying to fit it.”

“But you just called me by my last name like literally ten seconds ago!” Harry pouted.

“Styles. Listen to your own name. Styles. It’s a classy name. It just sounds so good, and you know, it’s got style. It would be a crime _not_ to use it. Seriously. Tomlinson’s got nothing on a last name like Styles.”

“So if we ever get married, you wouldn’t mind taking my name?”

“What?” Louis yelled. He gave Harry the finger, got up and walked straight out of the living room.

_Well done Styles_ , let’s freak the boy out by discussing marriage before you even hinted at the fact that might like him a little. Harry wished he could take it back, because Louis obviously did not enjoy his last comment. And they were having so much fun. Typical Harry behaviour, ruining the mood like that. Thirty seconds later, Louis walked back in, holding one of his Vans above his head. He walked to Harry, put the shoe on and laced it, and kicked Harry.

“Auwtch!” Louis kicked him again. “Auw! That really hurts!” Harry crawled into foetus position and made himself as small as possible. “Why would you do that?”

“For a remark like that, about us getting married, you deserve to get your ass kicked. But I realised I wasn’t wearing any shoes, so I went to get a shoe. Now I kicked your ass. Now we can play again.” He explained it as if it all made perfect sense, while he took his one shoe off again. Harry remained in his curled up position, still unsure of what to do.

“Oh come on, yes, I kicked you. But not that incredibly hard. Don’t act as if it really hurts that much. I’m so not buying that.” Louis filled their drinks again. “We should continue our game.”

“So you literally went to get a shoe to be able to kick me?” Harry still couldn’t believe what had happened the last two minutes.

“Move on Styles. The moment has passed. Just make sure to remember not to ever mention us getting married again. That should be your lesson.”

“But why?” Harry still didn’t understand.

“I never.” Louis said. “I never. Oh get up Harry, I can’t play if you’re still laying there like a sad kid in pain. It really can’t hurt that much.” He was right, and Harry crawled back up.

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt actually.” Harry thought he had played the role of the innocent victim long enough and decided the switch the roles. “It doesn’t hurt _at all_. Surprising, right? I thought you would have been stronger.” He remarked, while frowning at Louis.

“I mean, you kicked me two times, and I don’t feel a thing. You’re really a light weight, aren’t you?”

“The shoe is still here, right in front of me. You want me to put it back on and kick you some more? Because I will. Just say the word Styles.”

“Where did you kick me again? I just don’t feel it anymore. It’s only been a minute, right?”

“Styles, shut up. I swear I’ll do it again. Harder this time.”

“Ooh, such threats! Now I’m proper scared.”

Harry and Louis both stared at each other, using their ‘I’m-oh-so-tough-look’ and they  lasted for exactly four entire seconds. Then both boys started laughing at the exact same time.

“Your face!” Louis yelled, while still laughing.

“Your threats!” Harry joined in, continuing laughing as well.

“Your face!”

“Your little kicks!”

“Your face!”

“Your foul language!”

“Still your face.”

“I’m out. It was seriously funny though. Thanks for that.” Harry was genuine now, because he was really thankful that Louis made him smile, laugh, and grin so regularly. No need to tell Louis how grateful exactly, but Harry meant this little thank you from the bottom of his heart.

“King of laughs, that’s me.” Louis raised his glass. “Now, anyway, we were trying to play a game here. Ready to dive back in?”

“Yup. You talk this time though.”

“Don’t worry. Once I start, there’s no stopping me.”

And Harry didn’t stop him. Louis started his ‘I never’ with talking about how he had struggled with coming out at home, and how he had never found the courage to say it out load. He had written it in a letter, one for mum and boyfriend, and one for his stepdad. The latter hadn’t taken it well, and simply had told Louis that he didn’t want to see him anymore as long as he liked boys. Louis drank his first glass. He continued with the story about his first time having sex, and how he had been used by a popular boy at school, who had simply dumped him as soon as he had his orgasm and left Louis alone. Louis drank his second glass after that story. He revealed how his only serious relationship had started out wonderfully, but as time progressed had slowly turned into an abusive relationship without Louis realising it, and it had taken him quite a while to understand and gather the courage to end it. And so Louis drank his third glass. Lastly, he continued explaining how all his friends from uni had graduated two years ago, and all of them were living with their partners, all of them growing up, getting married and having kids. Until two weeks ago, Louis was still at said university, that all of his friends had said goodbye to two years ago. Okay, he was working on a PhD, but to Louis it had always felt as if he were stuck, in comparison to his friends. They all had relationships, their own houses, happy families. He had his own room at uni, and was alone. Lonely even. And with that, Louis stopped talking and finished his fourth glass.

Harry didn’t know what to say actually, so he did what he would appreciate if he were in the same situation. He got up and crawled behind Louis, so he was in between his legs and gave him a long hug. It felt strange, that they had had a fake argument about marriage just an hour ago. The mood had changed during Louis’ talk, and Harry felt that it would be okay now to hug Louis. Louis didn’t seem to mind. They sat in complete silence for a minute. Then Louis seemed to get restless and started tapping his feet. Harry took it as his cue to let go.

“You know what you need?” Harry asked.

“What?”

“A cookie!” Harry exclaimed and took the plate with his homemade cookies.

“Oh God, I totally forgot about those! Jeez Styles, you are sooooo right, that’s exactly what I need.” Louis took his own cookie and jumped into the couch. He held the cookie above his head, as if he were worshipping it and started singing:

“I love you, cookie, and it it’s quite alright, I need you cookie, to warm a lonely night.”

Harry joined him in the couch, held his cookie above his head as well, and joined in on the singing:

“I love you cookie, trust in me when I say, Oh, pretty cookie, don’t bring me down, I pray, Oh pretty cookie, Now that I found you, stay. And let me love you, cookie. Let me love you!”

Louis sat down again and started eating his cookie with a huge grin plastered upon his face. “That was awesome. And this cookie is awesome!”

Harry was still singing in the couch, addressing his cookie: “You’re just too good to be true, I can’t take my eyes off of you.” He couldn’t help but thinking that the lyrics both applied to the cookie and to Louis. He sat down again and started eating as well.

“I never thought about using love songs to worship food.”

“Well, Frankie Vallie probably had a girl in mind when he wrote that song, but I think it’s a perfect match for your cookies as well.”

“Let’s find some other ones.” Harry said, while he poured himself another shot.

“I’ve got one. An Swedish oldie!” Louis took another cookie and jumped into the other couch and started singing dramatically: “Don’t go wasting your baking goodies, lay all your cookies on me.”

“Abba, right?” Harry checked and Louis nodded while he sat down again. Harry felt an immediate need to impress Louis with his song and his adapted lyrics. _Which song to sing, which lyrics to alter to impress this little God?_

Justin Bieber?

“You know you love me, I know you care. Just shout whenever and I’ll be there. You are my love, you are my heart and we will never, ever, ever be apart. And I was like cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie, oh. Like, cookie, cookie, cookie, no!”

Louis got up and took his shoe again, and slapped Harry on the head with it.

“Justin Bieber, seriously? Way to ruin the moment Styles!”

“Well, you did Abba. I thought we were going for guilty pleasures?”

“Even if they are guilty pleasures, there’s still a huge difference between Abba and Bieber. You as a songwriter and artist, should know that.” Louis poured both of them a new shot and they downed it in a matter of seconds.

“I can do better. Let me try again.” Harry almost begged.

“Sure. Try again Styles. Impress me then.”

“Alright. I’ve got one, but it’s got some fairly high notes. I’ll do my best to ace the vocals, but I’m not a pure falsetto so don’t kill me if I screw this one up.”

“Pressure’s on now.” Louis said, deadpan. Harry took it as his cue to start, and he did his utmost to sound like Adam Levine.

“Your cookie, yes please, won’t you come and put it down on me. I’m right here, cause I  need a little love and little sympathy. Yeah, you show me good eating, made it alright, need a little sweetness in my life. Your cookie, yes please, won’t you come and put it down on me.”

Louis didn’t say anything. Harry sat down again, and gave him a questioning look. “Was it any good?” Slowly, Louis came back to life.

“That was. I mean, Jezus Harry, that was beautiful. I know you’re a professional singer and all, but my God, your voice. You had me mesmerized for a second there.”

“Mesmerized?” Harry gave him a knowing look.

“Arrogance?” Louis replied.

Arrogance aside, Harry instantly melted after Louis’ praise. It could be because he was drunk, but he felt as if he were even more in love with Louis after tonight. The great cooking, the domestic fun, the honest conversations, the stupidity of their jokes, the dancing and singing in the couch, the overall pure of joy of spending time with him. Even the fact that Louis had made an effort to fetch his shoe just to be able to kick him. Harry loved him. Everything about him.

“It’s a good thing you’re absolutely not my type Styles, considering the fact that your voice alone might be able to give me wet dreams.”

_Not his type_. Right then.


	8. Present or past tense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Louis and Harry spent an entire night drinking and talking. Both of them revealed a lot about their past, and Harry is completely endeared by every single move Louis makes.  
> The morning after, Louis' mobile is ringing and this will change everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: hospitals - talking about death - grieving - denial 
> 
> Obviously, this story is very much fictional indeed.

Harry woke up to the ringing of a mobile. Relentless ringing. The first time it rang, he only heard it in the distance, far far away. The second time, he managed to locate the mobile: on the ground, two metres away from the couch where he was sleeping. The third time, he realized that it wasn’t his mobile, but Louis’. And that he was still asleep in the other couch. The fourth time, he sat up with the purpose of getting the mobile, but discovered that the sudden movements really hurt his head. The fifth time he only checked the time: it was a quarter past seven. Louis and Harry had played, sung and talked until two, so he had slept for about five hours. The sixth time he accepted the pain and just got up to accept the call. The caller id said ‘Dan’.

“Hi, this is Harry.” He said. He didn’t really know what to say, since only 20% of his brain was functioning. He did remember the name Dan though, from some stories Louis had told him, so he was pretty sure that he was talking to Louis’ mum’s boyfriend.

“Harry? Who are you? I’m looking for Louis?”

“Yeah, I’m his roommate. He is still asleep. Can I take a message or something? Or should I wake him up?”

“Well, yes please. There’s been an accident.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I’ll wake him up, wait a second please.” Harry put the mobile on the ground and stepped over to Louis, who hadn’t moved at all since Harry spotted him there two minutes ago. Apparently, he was still fast asleep. Harry got down on his knees and sat down right beside him. Then, he gently shook him, trying to wake him up in the most agreeable way ever.

“Louis? Louis? Please wake up Louis? I’ve got Dan on the phone.” Harry whispered and tapped on his shoulder. No response. He tried again.

“Louis? Louis? Wake up!” He said. He shook a little harder. No response.

“LOUIS! LOUIS! Get up!” He yelled. He tapped his finger in his cheeks. And that did the trick. Louis started grunting something, and turned around to look directly into Harry’s eyes. They were so close to each other. Harry’s breath hitched and he forgot why he was so close in the first place.

“Harry. What is wrong with you. Poking some pretty guy in your couch because you’re in desperate need of attention. Get a cat or something.” See, Harry’s brain wasn’t working properly yet, but Louis’ brain apparently needed no time whatsoever to get into sassy mode. Louis pushed Harry away. “Mate, your breath smells awful. Go away and don’t come back before you’ve brushed your teeth.”

These were the words that snapped Harry back to reality.

“Louis, I’ve got Dan on the phone for you. He sounds serious.”

And these were the words that snapped Louis into being totally awake.

“Dan? At this hour? Something must have happened. Where’s my mobile?”

Harry picked it up and gave it to Louis. The latter accepted it, greeted Dan, and walked out of the living room. Since there was nothing to do for Harry, he just went into the kitchen to deal with his hangover. He first searched for some painkillers and took one, then he drank three glasses of water, ate some toast and started on a cup of coffee. He also prepared the same breakfast for Louis: two pieces of toast, a coffee, a large glass of water and a painkiller. Then there was nothing to do except waiting. Waiting for the pills to work, and for Louis to return. He hoped nothing bad had happened. Louis really didn’t need any more drama in his life.

“Harry!” Louis shouted when he ran into the kitchen two minutes later. “I’ve got to go! There’s been an accident. My sister. Fizzy!” He picked up the glass of water Harry had set up for him and downed it in mere seconds.

“Can I borrow your tablet for just a second? My phone just died, and I need to check the train schedule.”

“Wait, slow down. What happened?”

“Well, my sister was walking to the bakery this morning, and she got hit by a car. She’s in the hospital in Doncaster, she’s in surgery right now. I need to go there. Like, now. I don’t know when the next train is going. But I need to go. I want to be there when she wakes up. I mean, Fizzy is only, like, she’s so young!” Louis was rambling, and he looked scared. Harry felt an immediate need to comfort him. He took Louis by the shoulders and looked him into the eye.

“I’ve got a car. Take it. You’ll be there much faster.”

“The train is actually faster you know.”

“On the journey itself, yeah. But is the hospital next to the railway station then? And you’ll still have to get the tube to go to the station. And there’s only one train every hour.”

“Yeah, you may be right. A car would be faster indeed.”

“I can’t. We drank so much last night. No way I’m allowed to drive with that much alcohol still in my blood.” Yup. They really drank a lot. No way Harry was allowed to drive either.

“I’ll call my driver. He’ll take you to Doncaster. Keep the car as long as you need it.”

“Are you sure? You don’t need it yourself?”

“No. You take it.” Harry could take a taxi.

“Oh God, that would be great. I mean, I would be so much faster than if I go there by train.”

“I’ll call him now. You finish your toast and drink some more water.” Harry demanded. He took his phone and made the call. Anything for Louis. While he was talking to Alberto to make the arrangements, he kept an eye on Louis. He looked smaller somehow, and all the I’m-so-tough-aura that normally surrounded him, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

“Okay, Alberto will be here in fifteen minutes. Maybe you should use that time to take a shower?” Louis simply nodded and started walking out of the kitchen. Suddenly, he turned around.

“Harry, have you got any plans today?” He sure did. He had a busy day ahead. He was going to grab breakfast with Gemma, in the afternoon he was supposed to go and visit Liam’s baby with Lou and Lux. In the evening, he had dinner plans with Ed.

“No, free as a bird.” Harry heard himself say. _What_?

“Would you mind coming with me? I don’t want to go there alone.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s a long drive. I need you to distract me. Otherwise I’ll think about Fizzy non-stop.”

“Okay okay, I can do that. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks.” Louis gave him a small smile.

“Now, shower.” Harry went into full ‘take-care-of-Louis-mode’ again. “You go to your bathroom and take a shower, I’ll go to mine. I’ll also pack a bag for the both of us and make sure we’re ready to go. You just enjoy the hot water and try to clear your head.”

“Thanks.” Louis whispered.

“Off you go.” Harry said, and Louis complied.

Harry practically ran to his own bathroom, hopped in the shower and tried to grasp what had happened in the last few minutes. Harry had picked up Louis’ mobile, when Dan was ringing relentlessly. Louis’ sister Fizzy had been in an accident, and she was in surgery now. Harry had agreed to accompany Louis on the drive to Doncaster.

Harry needed to back down. He was in way over his head. He was so in love with Louis, and Louis obviously didn’t feel the same way. He had even been so friendly to state that Harry was absolutely not his type yesterday evening. So, Harry came to a simple conclusion: he would keep Louis company in the car, until they arrived at the hospital. Then he would him drop off, give him some encouraging words, and then he would drive home again with Alberto. Harry knew himself too well: the minute he would enter the hospital, he would start caring about Louis’ family as well. No good could come of that. He would get attached, for no reason, because Louis didn’t like him that way. So attachment to Louis’ family was something that he should avoid. Like, bigtime.

The conclusion was quite simple: Join Louis to the hospital: yes. Join Louis into the hospital: no.

 

////

 

Twenty minutes later, Louis and Harry were both in the backseat of Harry’s Range Rover. Louis was frantically texting, and Harry had trouble staying awake. But Louis had asked him to distract him, so sleeping was not an option.

“So, what exactly happened then?”

“I’m not sure. No one is. She had left a note on the kitchen table that she had gone to the bakery to get some fresh buns since it’s the weekend. And she was alone, so nobody knows. Dan got a call when she was in the ambulance.”

“Okay. Do you know what kind of surgery?”

“She had some internal bleedings, I think Dan said. I’m not sure.”

“So, everybody’s at the hospital? Your mum, Dan, and all of your sisters and brother?”

“Oh God, I haven’t told you yet, have I?”

“What?”

“My mum passed away.”

“What? But. You told me about her yesterday, like, as if she were alive?”

“Yeah, I know.” Louis looked down at his hands, and fell silent again. Harry was in shock. Here they were, on their way to a hospital. Both boys had hangovers from the previous night, when Louis had talked and explained so much about his past. He had talked so lovingly about his mum, and Harry had gotten the impression that she really was a wonderful and sweet lady. And very much alive.

“She only died a couple of months ago. I’m still in denial I guess?”

“Oh Louis.” Harry whispered and he placed his hands on top of Louis’.

“She was so great you know. The best mum ever. She did everything for us. And, you know, she died. And I can’t stop talking about her as if she is still with us.”

“You don’t have to stop talking about her just because she died. You have all of these memories for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah, but I talk about her in a present tense. I shouldn’t do that. I fooled you, didn’t I?”

“That’s really okay. Grieving takes time. You lost your mum. It would take me forever to get over that.”

Louis took Harry’s hand in his now.

“That’s why I want to get to Doncaster as soon as possible. I’m not the only one who lost him mum. We are all still grieving. And now this happened! We just can’t seem to escape these things.”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay Louis. Your sister is going to be just fine.”

They were still holding hands.

“I just miss my mum so much. It’s one of the reasons why I barely go home. I can’t deal with the fact that she’s not in that house anymore. I always expect her to walk into the kitchen or the living room. If I’m somewhere else, it doesn’t seem so real.”

Harry really didn’t know how to answer that. Is that why Louis accepted his offer to move in? To escape the fact that his mum died?

“How did she die?”

“She got cancer, a real aggressive one. It had already spread by the time the doctors discovered it. She didn’t stand a chance, really. All of us were in hospital, every single day, holding her hand, supporting her, supporting each other, but it all went so fast. She really tried to fight it, but she couldn’t win. In two months’ time, it was all over.”

“I’m so sorry Louis.” Harry offered.

“Thanks.” Louis went quiet for a second and seemed to be thinking. Harry didn’t want to rush him, and it was clear that he wasn’t done talking. So Harry just waited until Louis was ready to talk some more. “You know, Fizzy is in the same hospital now. I’ve got so many terrible memories from that place. It’s where she died. It’s where mum died.”

“Oh Louis.” Harry opened up his arms and Louis crawled into them.

“I just hate that place. I thought I never had to go there again, and now Fizzy is there. Also in a hospital bed. It just... It all comes back now, the memories of us there, in that hospital, with mum.”

Harry stroked Louis’ hair. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He had Louis in his arms, which was wonderful,  but only because they were discussing his mum’s passing, and he was extremely sad. No way this would happen under normal circumstances. No way.

“I really wanted to tell you last night, you know. About her dying. I was able to tell you all of the other bad and sad things without getting all sad myself, but I couldn’t tell you this. I’m sorry.”

“Louis, you really don’t have to apologize.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re doing so much for me. You took me in, which I know is completely mental, and now you’re lending me your car, your driver, and your time. And I repay you with not telling you the most important fact about me.”

“You’re telling me now. That’s what matters.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“You still don’t have to apologize. I get it though, I really do. I can’t imagine my life without my mum, she’s so special. And you know, I can understand why talking about her made her feel alive to you.”

“It’s only been three months. I still miss her every day.”

“Three months is nothing when it comes to grieving. You’re allowed to miss her. Every single day.”

“I do. I miss her so much.”

“I’m sorry I will never meet her. You talked about her as if she was an absolute saint.”

“She was. She would have loved you, you know. She is crazy about all of my friends. Was. Was crazy.”

“Oh Louis.” Harry hugged him a little tighter for a second, and then let go. Louis didn’t move, and stayed still in Harry’s arms. After ten seconds, he sat up straight again and his face changed, he seemed determined all of the sudden. The moment had passed. Yet, Harry was going to cherish the hug forever, despite of the circumstances.

“Right. Anyway. There are things to do now. I need to call a few people.” Louis said.

“Can I help? I can call Grimmy for you, and explain what happened?” Harry offered.

“Why would you call Nick?” Louis gave him a questioning look combined with a frown.

“Because you’re dating him? He should know you’re in Doncaster, right?”

“Wait, what? Dating?” Louis was smiling now. _Why was Louis smiling?_

“Well, aren’t you? You went to his house every evening, and he said ‘a lady never kisses and tells’ when I asked him about it.” Louis’ smile had gotten even bigger now, and he started laughing.

“You genuinely think we’re dating?”

“Well, I just assumed.”

“Oh God, Grimmy’s so not my type. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a wicked lad, but no way I’d ever date him. Yugh!”

“So what have you been doing together then?” Harry was curious. But also happy. They were not dating. NOT dating. Louis even used the word ‘yugh’. Yay!

“Well, we’ve been preparing a new section for his radio show. A quiz with lyrics, where you have to make a link with word or a line from a previous song. Like, for example. I say ‘feel that night air flowing through me, in the night air’. That’s Jamie Woon.”

“Yeah, I know. Night Air by Jamie Woon. Excellent song by the way.”

“Duh. Anyway, the last word of the line is night air. So you would continue with one of these words.”

Harry thought about for a second, and started singing his own lines: “We’re only getting older baby, and I’ve been thinking about it lately, does it every drive you crazy, just how fast the _NIGHT_ changes.” When he sang the word night, he gave Louis a knowing look and he got a smile in return. Look at that. He had managed to make Louis smile.

“Right, that’s it indeed. Although it’s a bit arrogant to sing your own lyrics, but well. No surprises there. Now you have to continue the link with a line that starts with the word _changes_.”

Harry thought about that for a second, and starting singing again. “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strain.”

“Bowie. Good choice Styles. That’s it basically, we now linked the words night to changes. Except you should always start a new answer with the word you ended with. But anyway, we’ve prepared a quiz like that for about his next twenty episodes, with all links between song lyrics. If you participate, you get two words and you have to come up with lyrics to match them, like we just did. Grimmy just needed my intelligence on the topic of lyrics, really. So, there’s nothing going on there. I hereby state officially that we are genuinely not dating.” Louis had his two fingers up in the air to swear.

“Okay. Sorry about that then. Cool quiz idea though! Can I try again?” Harry asked. Louis had told him to distract him on the journey to Doncaster, and he was convinced this was the best way to do so. Lyrics were always a good topic to keep Louis interested.

“Alright. Find me link between girls and tears.”

“I’m going to start with a British classic: Blur. ‘Girls who are boys, who like boys to be girls, who do boys like they’re girls’. That’s a good start, right?”

“Yup. Sure is. I’m totally going to be stuck with that song for the rest of the day by the way. It’s a total earworm.”

“Sorry about that. So now I’ve got to find lyrics matching girls and tears… How about another British classic? ‘Girl, since you’ve been gone, and I just can’t go on, if you won’t see me. Time after time, you refuse to even listen, I wouldn’t mind if I knew what I was missing, though the days are few, they’re filled with tears’. Girl, tears. Check.”

“I think I recognized The Beatles? Which song?”

“You Won’t See Me.”

“Okay, technically that was correct, because you started out singing with girl and you ended with tears, but you practically sang the entire song the get there. You should try to, like, find something a bit shorter to link the words together.”

“But this is my first time!” Harry pouted.

“Yeah, you’re right about that. I’ll let it slide. Okay, one more that starts with tears to nail it.”

Harry thought about singing ‘Tears in Heaven’, but since they had been discussing his mother’s death only ten minutes ago, he immediately dismissed the idea and chose something else instead.

“The tears of a clown when there’s no one around, oh yeah, baby baby. Now if I appear to be carefree, it’s only to camouflage my sadness.”

“The Tears of a Clown? Original choice Styles, I’ll give you that.”

Harry beamed at the praise.

“See, that’s basically what we have been doing. Making links ourselves, to make sure Grimmy has pretty much all of the possible answers and enough words to combine. We had so much fun just linking everything together.”

“It is fun indeed. Can you give me another two words, but a little bit more difficult this time?”

And that’s how the trip to Doncaster continued. Louis gave Harry two words, and Harry would find three songs to link them together. Louis often mocked Harry for his ridiculous song choices, but he also gave him bonus points whenever Harry chose a song that belonged to one of Louis’ favourites. It seemed to be a welcome distraction for Louis, and they didn’t discuss anything serious again for the entire ride. Occasionally, Harry made sure that Louis drank some water and ate a cookie, to ensure that he would be totally sober by the time they arrived. Louis followed his lead, and listened to whatever Harry told him to do. He didn’t protest once, very un-Louis-like behaviour, and it seemed he enjoyed Harry taking care of him. The three hours flew by, and before Harry realized it, Alberto stopped the car on the parking lot of the hospital.

“We’re here. Ready?” Harry asked.

“Yes and no.” Louis took a deep breath. “Yes, because I’m so ready to see my family and support Fizzy. No, because, like, I absolutely despise this building, I mean, I’ve got some dreadful memories here.”

“You’ll be fine. Those memories may be dreadful, but remember, this is just a place. It’s the real memories of your mum that count, but, you know, the times you spent together in happiness. Not the ones here.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re really good at talking about this, you know?”

Harry laughed the praise away. “I write and sing about emotions on a daily basis. It’s kind of my job.”

“Jeez Styles, learn to take a compliment, seriously!” Louis patted him on the shoulder. “I’m trying to be nice here.”

“You’re just stalling, love. Get in there.” Harry realised which words he had used to address Louis as soon as he said them. He had just called Louis ‘love’. He half expected to get kicked again, or to get insulted again.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just so nervous, is all.” Okay, so no response on the ‘love’ things? Weird. Again, very unlike-Louis-behaviour.

“Go on, they’re all waiting for you. Feel free to return whenever you want. Alberto will drop me off at the station, and you can keep the car and Alberto for as long as you need. Just make sure to keep me posted."

“Wait. You’re not coming?” Louis looked at him, as earnest as possible. “I asked you to come with me, not just for the ride alone.”

“Oh. I didn’t get it that way.” Harry really shouldn’t enter the hospital.

_No no no_ , his brain was screaming. _You’ll get attached to his family, you’ll get even more attached than you are already, and you will get your heart broken. Whatever you do, do not enter that hospital._  

“Will you please come with me?” Louis asked.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Harry asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose. Isn’t his more of a family thing?” He kept on thinking the same thing, that he shouldn’t go in there, that he shouldn’t meet Louis’ family.

“Just come with me Harry.” Louis seemed to have lost his patience this time. “I want you to come, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked you.”

“Well, in that case. Yeah, sure I’ll go.”

_Take that, brain,_

////

 

While they were walking towards the entrance, Harry took his phone for the first time in three hours. 7 missed calls from Gemma. Oops. Right, they were supposed to have breakfast together. 2 texts from Liam about this afternoon. Oops. 1 missed call from Lou. Oops. 2 texts and 2 missed calls from his mum. Oops. Apparently, Harry had taken his mission to distract Louis a little bit too seriously and had been distracted from his own life instead. Shit happens.

“Uhm, I have to call my sister first. I was going to meet her for breakfast.” Harry said. He didn’t mention the other phone calls he obviously had to make as well.

“Harry! You liar! You said you didn’t have anything to do today.”

“Yeah well. Nothing important anyway. I can have breakfast with Gemma every weekend.”

“If you say so. Dan just texted that Fizzy’s out of surgery. She is in the room 228. Come up when you’re done, I’m going in already.” Louis said excitedly. He was obviously very happy with the news that the surgery was over. Harry thought it was super charming.

“228. Got it.”

And so, Louis almost ran to the hospital and Harry remained outside, watching Louis as he entered. That wasn’t voyeurism, that was just sincere concern he told himself. As soon as Louis was out of sight, he dialled Gemma’s number.

“Harry! Finally! Are you okay?” Gemma pretty much screamed as soon as she picked up.

“Yeah sure, why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Uhm, we were going to have breakfast and you never showed. You didn’t pick up your phone and you weren’t home. Liam also didn’t know where you were, neither did mum or Grimmy. Where are you?”

“Oh God, Gemma, don’t tell me you didn’t call all the people you just mentioned?”

“Of course I did. I was worried!”

“Well, you shouldn’t be. I’m fine.”

“Well, in that case you have some explaining to do. You stood up your sister!” Gemma’s tone had completely changed, from wary into demanding in a heartbeat.

So Harry took his time explaining what had happened this morning, starting with Dan’s phone call and ending with their arrival at the hospital just five minutes ago. He didn’t mention the game they played, only the serious stuff. He wanted to sound convincing, that he had had a good reason not to show up for breakfast, and for forgetting to inform her.

“Oh Harry! You’re not falling for this guy, aren’t you?”

“Why would you come to that conclusion?” Harry asked, genuinely interested in what his sister might answer. Was it that obvious indeed? Would Louis see it as well?

“Because you love taking care of people. That’s why we were going to have breakfast, so you can ask me about my life and give me advice. You need to go in protective mood over me at least once a month. Of course we’ll joke around and have fun, but you do it because you want to take care of me. And now you dropped everything to take care of this Louis guy that you only met two weeks ago. You wouldn’t do that if your heart wasn’t completely in it.”

Right. It was obvious then. Well, he had already told his mum about Louis, so there was no point denying it now.

“Sis, you know me too well.”

“Awww.”

“But I’m not falling for him you know. This isn’t something that’s progressing slowly. Like, I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. And each day, I learn more about him and I fall in even more in love if that’s even possible. This is new for me, I mean, I’ve never felt like this before sis. It’s a bit scary.”

“Oh Harry. Does he feel the same?”

“Not in the slightest. He told me I’m not his type, he constantly reminds me that I’m arrogant and he ignores whatever tiny hint I might insert in the conversation. Yesterday, he hit me with his shoe because I said something about us getting married.”

“So why did you go with him today then?”

“Because he asked me to.”

“But why wouldn’t he ask anyone else?”

“There was no one else. Not at least to get him to his family so quick. We took my car and Alberto drove.”

“So he just used you?” As soon as Gemma said it out loud, Harry felt anger rising. Louis was not using him.

“No, it’s not like that Gemma.” He snapped.

“It does sound like it.”

“Yeah well, trust me. I know what I’m doing. Today doesn’t have anything to do with me. His sister is in hospital, for God’s sake. That’s what matters now.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to get hurt. Especially when you just said that he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Bye Gems.”

Harry was proper annoyed now, and he quickly sent a text to Lou, Liam and Ed to reschedule their plans. He didn’t offer an explanation in his texts, he just made sure they all knew he wasn’t coming today. That would have to do. Then he texted his mum, just to let her know that everything was okay and that he wasn’t in London for the weekend.

While he stood there, texting, he noticed a girl taking a picture of him with his phone. Right, despite his crabby mood he was still an international superstar standing outside of a public building, this was bound to happen. He really wasn’t in the mood for any of that, so he strode in, on his way to 228.

 

////

 

When he entered the corridor on the second floor, he was suddenly super aware of the fact that he was going to meet Louis’ family. He had no clue if they knew the two of them lived together, and if Louis’ sisters liked One Direction. If they did, it might become super awkward and Harry really didn’t want that. He was there to support Louis as a friend, not to be recognized by some fangirling teenagers who would post his whereabouts on Twitter as soon as they saw him.

He stood in front of room 228 for about ten seconds, wondering if he should enter by himself, or if he should wait until someone came out. It didn’t happen that often, but Harry Styles was feeling shy right now. He felt very small, and very shy. After all, it was clear that Louis had forgiven him for the entire talk show debacle, but maybe his family hadn’t done that just yet? He had insulted Louis on national TV, and as a result Louis had lost his grant. Harry was responsible for that, and there might be a possibility that Dan or Louis’ sisters wouldn’t forgive him as easily as Louis had done. So… To enter or not to enter.

Before he could decide, the door opened and the decision was made for him instead.

“Well well well,” said a young girl, with long blonde hair. Her face was quite similar to Louis’, but she was a lot smaller. If Harry had listened to Louis’ stories correctly, this ravishing creature standing in front of him must be the eldest sister Lottie. She gave Harry a stern look and folded her arms, obviously waiting for him to say something.

“Hi, I’m Harry, I’m Louis’ roommate. You must be Lottie. It’s a pleasure to meet you. How is your sister doing?”

“Roommate.” She repeated, while rolling her eyes.  “Right, Louis told me about that. They just returned Fizzy to her room, we are waiting for her to wake up. I was going to call my boyfriend to give him an update. He’s at home with the youngest twins.”

“Doris and Ernest.” Harry said.

“Yup. You’ve certainly been paying attention.” She said sarcastically, and she walked away. So, Lottie was clearly not impressed by the fact that a superstar was standing outside of her sister’s room. Quite the contrary even. Her comments made it seem as if she looked down upon him, which was weird, considering the fact that Harry was 6ft and she was definitely a lot smaller than him. So, Louis’ sister was not impressed at all. Good to know.

Harry entered the room and was met by more Tomlinsons who were obviously not interested in him. And they shouldn’t be, because in the bed they were all seated around there was a girl heavily bandaged, with lots of wires going in and out her body, and two big bruises on her face. Her eyes were still closed, and Louis was holding one of her hands, and a young girl was holding her other hand. Another young girl, obviously her twin sister, was seated next to her, and an older man was standing behind Louis. Louis’ stories from the previous night made it easy to guess who was who for Harry: the twins must be Phoebe and Daisy, and the man had to be Dan.

“Hi.” Harry whispered, to no one in particular. He felt almost bad to have broken this silence in the room. As soon as he had opened his mouth, all heads turned and all eyes were on him.

“Hiyah Harry.” Louis said. “Fizzy’s surgery is over and she’s just been returned to her room. We’re waiting for her to wake up now.”

“How did the surgery go?” He asked. All eyes were still upon him.

“The doctor said that everything went well, but that they weren’t completely sure until Fizzy’s awake again. They are expecting her to wake up within the next hour. I’m Dan by the way, we spoke on the phone this morning I guess?” He stretched out his hand, and Harry shook it.

“Yes, we did. I’m Harry by the way, nice to meet you all.”

“Yeah, we know.” The young girl said. “Harry. Styles.” She pronounced both words as if she was discussing a lethal poison, and her eyes were filled with contempt.

“Yeah, we know. From One. Direction.” The other twin added, with the same tone in her voice.

“Hey, none of that girls! Harry’s been a true champ here, without him I wouldn’t have been here yet. Be nice.” Louis crawled into the role of a big brother, telling his sisters off. And he was defending Harry. If they hadn’t been standing in a hospital room, Harry might have done a happy dance.

“Today’s not about Harry. Today’s about Fizzy.” The other young girl stated, with a firm voice.

“Absolutely.” Harry agreed, again whispering. Oh God, half an hour he had been afraid to enter the hospital because he was afraid he might get attached to this family, but that might have been a tad optimistic. They all seemed to hate him.

“Fizzy is so strong. She’ll be fine. She’ll wake up and everything will be fine. And then we can leave this bloody hospital.” Louis said convincingly.

For once in his life, Harry was a bit disappointed that he was Harry Styles, and not Harry Potter. Otherwise, he would slip on his invisibility cloak, and he would quietly sneak out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. Grieving is real, even for my fictional Louis.


	9. Clueless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, they are still at the hospital in Fizzy's room.  
> However, the Tomlinson family is NOT happy that Harry's there. He really wants them to like him, but the girls are not that excited about the prospect of a boyband member in their midst.  
> Harry's Clueless, basically.
> 
> Obviously, this story is very fictional. As in, not true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Louis knows Steve Aoki. Why wouldn't he?  
> And yes, there are some references... Friends, Bob Dylan, Clueless. Take your pick.  
> And yes, you'll be happy when you get to the ending.... Trust me.

An hour later, all of them were still in the exact same position. Louis and one twin were still holding Fizzy’s hand, and the rest of the family was also seated around the bed. Lottie had returned and she had taken a chair and placed it right next to Louis, claiming her territory in the inner circle. Harry was alone, in the corner, in the outer circle. He felt so incredibly awkward and out of place, there were just no words to describe this level of awkwardness. He shouldn’t be here, because this clearly was a family moment, and he felt like an intruder. He cursed Louis and his stupid demand that Harry should join him, because basically, this was all Louis’ fault. Harry didn’t want to enter the hospital in the first place, and Louis had convinced him, with his pleading voice and his adorable puppy eyes. Stupid Louis.

But he couldn’t leave the room either. Just walking out right now would be extremely rude and disrespectful. So Harry stayed. He didn’t say anything, he also didn’t look at his mobile once, he just sat there. Occasionally he glanced at Louis, and it seemed like the latter felt it every single time, because he would always turn his head to Harry and give him a wink or a small smile. Those looks energized Harry and gave him the courage to stay put for another ten minutes. This pattern had repeated itself about five times already, so Harry could only guess that another hour or so must have passed.

Time passed slowly, Harry thought. And yes, the one and only Bob Dylan once had the exact same thought, and so Harry started singing in his head:

Time passes slowly up here in the mountains  
We sit beside bridges and walk beside fountains  
Catch the wild fishes that float through the stream  
Time passes slowly when you’re lost in a dream.

He briefly considered sharing Dylan’s lyrics with Louis, who would undoubtedly understand which song and which feeling he was referring to, but he didn’t have the guts to say anything out loud.

Time really passed slowly.

Then, out of the blue, Fizzy slowly started moving. The entire family sat up straight at once, and Louis started talking. “Fizzy? Fizz, baby girl? Are you awake? We’re all here love. We’re here, waiting for you to wake up. Take your time love. Take your time. We’re right here.” Louis practically cooed while stroking her hand, and Harry melted once more.

Fizzy’s arms moved again, and she brought her hands to her head. One of the twins continued. “Fizzy, wake up.”

Lottie pitched in: “Everything’s okay Fizz. Just open your eyes.” Fizzy rubbed her eyes slowly, and then her eyes opened at a torpid pace. She looked around at her family, and she frowned.

“What happened? Where are we?” She whispered, her voice rough.

Louis stood up while still holding her hand. “You were in an accident love. You got hit by a car near the bakery. You broke your leg and some ribs, and you had some internal bleedings. But, the doctors here operated you and fixed everything. You are going to be just fine. Just hold on.”

“An accident?” she repeated.

“Yeah. You don’t remember?” Dan asked, and Fizzy remained silent, clearly thinking. After a minute, she slowly spoke again.

“No. I remember writing a note that I was going to the bakery. And then… Ouch, my head hurts.” Fizzy put her hand on her head, right on of the bruises.

“Yeah, you’ve got a nasty bruise there love.” Louis said. “You look all bad-ass now.” He was clearly trying to lighten the mood. Fizzy gave him a weak smile, and she went silent again for a minute or so. The rest of the family seemed to accept her pace, and nobody said anything until Fizzy spoke again.

“Where are the youngest twins?”

“Tommy is talking care of them at home. Experience taught us that they’re not able to sit still in a hospital room.” Lottie shrugged. Just like that, the atmosphere changed, and it seemed like everyone immediately understood what Lottie was referring at. “Sorry.” Lottie said. “I didn’t mean to bring up those bad memories. I just hate this place.”

“That’s okay love, we all do.” Dan said.

“Yeah, that’s why Harry’s here.” Louis added.

At that exact moment, Fizzy’s eyes flew to Harry. It seemed that she noticed him for the first time, even though she had been awake for a few minutes now.

“Are you Harry Styles?” she asked. “From One Direction?” Her voice sounded surprised, and not filled with disgust which was a nice change in comparison to the other Tomlinons reactions he had gotten so far.

“Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” He gave her a big smile, and stepped closer to join the Tomlinson circle. Harry  instantly felt better, but Fizzy’s eyes revealed another emotion: she was panicking all of the sudden.

“Oh God oh God oh God! I’m going to die, aren’t I? That’s why Harry Styles is here, isn’t he? Is this Make a Wish or something? Oh fuck, am I dying so you brought a celebrity?”

“No no no Fizzy! That’s not it at all!” Louis took her hand again, and tried to soothe her. “Harry’s here because I brought him.” Fizzy didn’t seem to register Louis’ words at all.

“But I’m so young. I don’t want to die. And my head hurts, and my leg hurts, but I don’t feel that bad. I don’t want to take part in Make a Wish. I don’t want to die!” She was yelling now, looking at everyone except Harry. Louis took her face between his two hands and that seemed to calm her down a bit.

“Fizzy, love, Harry’s here because I brought him. He’s my roommate, remember. You are not dying, he’s not here for Make a Wish, he’s here because I asked him to join me. You are just fine. Really love.”

Harry thought this was his cue to speak, and he took her hand this time as he stepped closer to the bed. “Fizzy, I’m really only here because I gave Louis a ride. But that’s not important right now, your health is important. And about that, you are doing just fine. Your leg is broken but you’ve got a cast and that will heal, you’ve got a few bruises but those will disappear, and these wires will be taken out in no time. Seriously, you are okay. You will go home pretty soon. Darling, just hold on.” He spoke calmly and looked Fizzy directly in the eyes the entire time, not once breaking eye contact. His speech seemed to work, because she rested her head on the pillow again, and smiled.

“Okay. Thanks Harry Styles. I love you.” And then she closed her eyes and dozed off again.

And for that little speech, Harry was rewarded with another breath-taking and sincere smile from Louis.

 

////

 

Harry and the rest of the Tomlinson family were standing outside of the room, while the doctors were examining Fizzy once more now that she had woken up. Louis gave Harry a nudge.

“Let’s go get something to eat at the cafeteria and check how your driver’s doing.”

“Sure.” Harry followed him as they left the rest of them behind. Indeed, he hadn’t told Louis that he had sent Alberto home already. They walked to the cafeteria in silence, and both of them took a sandwich and a cup of tea. As soon as they sat down, Louis started talking.

“Harry, I’m so sorry that I dragged you out here today. Really. I should have known my sisters were going to be so mean to you, because they hate One Direction, and obviously they know I lost my job because of you. The only one who actually likes you is Fizzy. She’s the only one who didn’t know about us living together precisely because of that, as you may have noticed.”

“That I did.”

“Now anyway, I’m sorry. I really didn’t think this through. This morning, when I asked you to come, I was still a little drunk, and I know that’s no excuse, but, you know, you got me talking about my mum and I usually avoid that topic, and … I really hate talking about emotions. Like, hate it. Bigtime. Don’t ever do it. Normally. But with you I did.” Louis didn’t look at Harry once, he kept on staring at his sandwich. A BLT, by the way.

“Are you apologizing for talking about your mum? Seriously Louis, that is so not necessary. I mean, you should take about these things.” Harry looked at Louis the entire time, and kept on ignoring his sandwich. A grilled vegetable sandwich, by the way.

“Yugh. No I don’t. And it won’t happen again. Don’t get used to it Styles. Fizzy is okay, the world is okay again, and so sassy Louis has returned. At your service!” He added a wink, overly dramatic. “Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry, and thank you for distracting me in the car. And thank you for what you just said to Fizzy. Those were the exact words she needed to hear. You were brilliant.”

“No worries. That’s what friends are for, I guess.”

“Friends?” Louis gave him a questioning look.

“Friends.” Harry confirmed.

“You want to spend the night at our house and return tomorrow, or are you going to let Alberto drive you home now? Or do you have another plan?” Louis’ attempt to change the topic wasn’t that subtle, so Harry pretended he didn’t notice. “You know, Dan is staying here tonight, and obviously Fizzy isn’t going to sleep at home, so we do have some beds available for, let’s say, stranded superstars.” Louis definitely wasn’t kidding a minute ago, sassy Louis was back.

And he was offering Harry a place to stay for the night. _Thank God for that_. Harry had given Alberto money to take a train back to London as soon as Louis had entered the hospital, and he didn’t really want to drive back at night or search a hotel in this area.

“Well, Alberto already took a train home. If that’s alright with you, I’ll accept your offer and bunk with your friendly family. I’ll just drive home tomorrow morning.”

“Sure mate. Glad to be of service. Since you offered me a room in your mansion, it’s only fair I offer you a room in our dump.”

“Are you sure the rest of your family is okay with that? You know, since they hate me and all.”

“Well, just make sure to lock your door, because obviously my sisters cannot be trusted around you.” Louis seemed to be joking, but Harry wasn’t entirely sure. He still perfectly remembered the poisonous look from Lottie. She was one scary lady alright.

He was reminded of an old episode of Friends: _Why don’t you like me?_

 

////

 

A few hours later, Harry, Louis, Lottie and the twins crawled in Harry’s Range on their way to the Tomlinson residence. Fizzy had been awake three more times, a little bit longer every time and the last time she had even made a joke herself. The conclusion was pretty simple: she was a strong girl, recovering fast. The doctors had given their approval, her surgery had gone perfectly and there were no complications. If everything kept on evolving like this she would be allowed to go home within two days.

“Turn on the radio, so we can dance on the backseat?” Lottie demanded. Still the cold shoulder, still the Bellatrix treatment. Harry had been extremely friendly all afternoon long, trying to lighten the mood or to offer help whenever he could, but his efforts seemed to have been in vain, since the twins and Lottie remained quite short and unfriendly in their interactions with Harry. Louis didn’t say anything about it anymore, although Harry hadn’t forgotten how Louis had defended him this morning.

“Sure. What do you want to hear?” Harry asked.

“Anything with a good beat,” one of the twins answered.

“A bit of Steve Aoki. Or some Martin Garrix. Or some Hardwell. If you know any of these names of course.” Again, the contempt in Lottie’s voice was crystal clear.

“Jeez Lottie, listen to yourself. First of all, you only know them because Steve’s a friend of mine. Second, don’t go all I-am-so-much-better-than-you on Harry just because he’s in a boyband.” Louis said. Aha, there was the knight in shining armour again, saving Harry. Yay!

And then the message actually sunk in with Harry.

“Wait. You know Steve Aoki?”

“Yes. You don’t think you’re the only superstar I know, do you? Come on, with my hilariousness and cheekiness, any celebrity would be lucky to call me his friend.”

“Well, you made it clear in the cafeteria that I am your _friend_ indeed.” Oh, the double meaning… Obviously, Louis would not understand this the way Harry had meant it, emphasising the word friend because it was just not enough for him. But it clearly was for Louis.

“So tell me, how did you guys meet?”

“Well, when it was my 18th birthday, me and my best mates went to Ibiza to celebrate. And because it was my birthday, I was invited upon the stage the throw a cake into the audience, which sounds weird, but it’s kind of a habit of Steve when he’s performing. He just finished his set, we started talking and never stopped, and that’s it basically.”

“Cool.” Harry didn’t really know what else to say. Because, that really was _cool_. Who gets to talk to a deejay when you’re at a gig?  And who stays in touch later on? Nobody, that’s who. Except for Louis Tomlinson. The boy really was a walking and talking fairy.

“There’s still no music playing.” Lottie interfered.

“Lottie, seriously. This needs to stop. Be nice to Harry.”

“Or what? Are you going to make me listen to a One Direction album as a punishment?” The twins and Lottie all started laughing. Harry had enough experience after one day to know that being friendly wouldn’t help to win these girls over. So, time for another approach. He stopped the car.

“See, I was just in the mood to listen to some One Direction. I know you girls aren’t big fans, so please feel free to get out of the car. I’m sure you know the way home.” Harry knew this was a risky move, but he had to try something. He had to try and get them to at least accept him. Louis gave him an questioning look and Harry just winked. Since the girls were seated in the backseat, they obviously couldn’t see their facial expressions. Louis winked right back, which meant that he was going to play along. Excellent.

“Yeah! Oh my gosh, I am soooo in the mood to sing along with What Makes You Beautiful! That’s like, their best song everrrrr.” Louis shouted enthusiastically, using a very American accent. And nailing it, by the way.

“You’re insecure.” Harry started singing, exaggerating every single syllable while waving his arm and using an empty water bottle as a microphone.

“Don’t know what for.” Louis continued, singing in the same style as Harry and copying his movements. And then they continued together. “You’re turning heads when you walk through the doo-oo-oor. Don’t need make-up to cover up, being the way that you are is enough.”

And then Harry stopped singing and focussed on Lottie. “Except for you, you obviously need make-up to because you’ve got one nasty character.”

“BUUUUUURN!” Louis yelled.

“What the fuck?” Lottie obviously didn’t know what else to say.

“Now,” Harry continued, “From now on you are going to play nice. Yes, I’m in One Direction. Yes, you hate them. We all get it. Yada yada yada. Now, I’m also just a person, and I happen to be a friend of your brother. So could you please at least pretend that I’m human. Really. Just because you don’t like One Direction, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to like me on principle. At least give me a chance and get to know me. And if you still hate me then, I’ll let you be as mean as you want to.”

Harry sounded really serious, sincere and stern during his speech, all confident like a superstar. But he was just a really good actor because on the inside he was super nervous. And scared. And nervous. And scared. So scared that she might not be impressed at all. That he might have made it even worse.That she might eat him alive, and never speak to him again. Or maybe that wouldn't be too bad either...

_Oh dear God. Oh dear God. Please react. As in, now._

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m so sorry. I’ll play nice from now on. And so will the twins.”

Harry started the car again, and put on The Hum by Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. The girls wanted something with a beat, so that’s what they got. They didn't complain and all three of them started humming along. He was trying his best to keep his smirk hidden, but when he looked at Louis, he could see that he wasn’t even trying to hide the enormous smile plastered on his face. Louis gave him a wink, and Harry took that as a sign that it was okay for him to smile like that as well.

 

////

 

When they entered the house, all three girls disappeared within a heartbeat mumbling something about going to their rooms, and only Harry and Louis were left.

“I’m guessing you were extremely nervous when you challenged Lottie like that?” Louis asked him.

“Sure was. I had been trying the friendly approach all day long, and that obviously wasn’t working. Hence the extremely risky and peculiar approach you so gallantly played along with. God, I normally hate singing that song, but now it was absolutely hilarious. Thanks for that by the way.”

“Hey, that’s what _friends_ are for.” Louis shrugged, stressing the word friends. “Anyway, it was a risky move indeed. Yet, you earned some bonus points again Styles. I like men who aren’t afraid of taking risks.”

“Good to know." It was indeed good to know. Harry would remember that, because it would come in handy at one point. He was sure of it. Hopefully rather sooner then later. And bonus points again. That had been a while. Despite being stuck in a hospital, the day was getting better by the minute. He continued: "And you totally deserve an Oscar for your impeccable imitation of an American valley girl.”

“Yeah, well, I have seen Clueless about thirty times. I knew that would pay off one day.”

“As if.” Harry answered, grinning like Cher Horowitz. Louis laughed as well.

“My favourite line was ‘I’m not prude, I’m just highly selective.’ Genius. I still don’t understand why girls don’t use that line more often to blow off guys. Seriously, it's a great line to dump someone.”

“Maybe they do use it,” Harry offered. “You just wouldn’t know it since you never try to hit on a girl.”

Louis just rolled his eyes and took him to Dan’s room. While he started changing the sheets, he began rambling. Like, Rambling. Bigtime.

“So, this is Dan’s room. It used to be my mum’s room as well, but we’re obviously not going to discuss that. No more discussing feelings today. Anyway, this is the biggest bed, so it’s only fair that you get to sleep here since you are, like, the superstar and all that. Don’t think it’s weird that you are going to sleep here. It would be weirder for us, you know. If you need anything, feel free to go to the kitchen and take whatever you want. I don't know if there's a lot of food in the kitchen, but that doesn't matter right? There's definitely some cereal. And cookies in the top cupboard, where the twins can't reach them. My room is at the end of the hall if you need me. Like for, whatever.The twins might show up here tonight, I mean, they don’t know that Dan’s not here, but Tommy and Lottie might intercept them and you don’t have to worry…”

He just kept on talking. Harry knew how he could shut him up.

So he kissed him. Louis kissed him back. They kissed, and it felt so good. Great even. Wonderful. Sensational. Overwhelming. Incredible. Magnificent. Superb. Harry got lost in the feeling of the kiss, cherishing the sweet sensation of Louis’ lips on his. He put his hands in Louis’ hair and gently stroked his neck.

And before he realized it, Louis pushed him away.

“See?” Harry asked, sheepishly and still dazed from the kiss. “I like to take risks.”

“As if!” Louis once more repeated, another grand Cher Holowitz imitation. Then he pushed Harry on the bed quite roughly, and walked out of the room saying “I’m not prude, I’m highly selective.”


	10. Take That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, the morning after the kiss... Harry wants to talk, Louis wants to sing.  
> So, there are lots people (Nick, Anne, Niall) to bring comfort, all in their own adorable ways.
> 
> And then it's time for another British Boyband: Take That.

The next morning Harry needed a minute to remember where he was. Right, in Doncaster, in Dan’s room, in Louis’ house. When he checked the time, he suddenly remembered something else. The kiss. Harry had kissed Louis. Louis had kissed him back. And then, he had pushed him away and left the room. Harry was still as confused as he was yesterday evening when he crawled in the bed, constantly replaying the kiss scenario and Louis’ exit words. Thank God that he hadn’t slept a lot the previous night, otherwise he would have been awake the entire night, analysing the kiss once more. But he had been exhausted last night, so despite the worrying about the kiss, he had fallen asleep and slept quite well.

The kiss had felt good. No doubt about that. Incredible even. And Louis had kissed him back, so that was a good sign. When Harry had stroked his hair, he thought he had felt Louis leaning back to touch his hand some more. Again, a good sign.

But, Louis had also pushed him away, and left immediately after. Not a good sign. And then he had quoted Clueless, saying that he’s highly selective. Again, not a good sign.

So basically, it was a tie. 2-2 on the good versus bad signs. That just didn’t help Harry at all. The conclusion was fairly simple. He needed to talk to Louis. However, he recalled Louis’ statement from yesterday, claiming that he was never going to talk about feelings and emotions again. It made it all a bit tricky, that. What made it even better, is that Harry had no idea whether emotions or feelings were involved at all. Just because he was head over heels for Louis, didn’t mean that Louis had to feel anything for him at all. You know, he wasn’t his type to begin with anyway. The only thing they seemed to share, were lyrics.

When Harry entered the kitchen, Louis was standing at the counter in his boxers and a plain white t-shirt. He was preparing two bottles for the youngest twins, who were seated at the table in their baby seats. They were looking up at Louis hopefully. _I know how you guys feel_ , Harry thought. The radio was softly playing and he couldn’t hear anything else, so the other girls were probably still sleeping.

“Good morning mister Styles. Did you sleep well?” Louis asked, without a trace of sarcasm or sassiness in his voice. All serious. That was rare. Harry really didn’t know what to do with it.

“Well, I had a hard time falling asleep since I had a lot on my mind. But once I dozed off, I slept like a baby.” There. A clear hint that they needed to talk, right?

“Like a baby? Well, these babies didn’t sleep as long as you did, so I’m fixing their bottles right now.” He turned around and continued his work. Yeah, so Harry’s subtle hint obviously did not work. He sat down and started fumbling with his hands, trying to come up with another great thing to say to indicate that he really would like to discuss their kiss. And then Louis started singing a Drake song while he was working on the bottles.

“I don’t know how to talk to you. I don’t know how to ask you if you’re okay.”

He placed the two bottles in the microwave and continued singing. Harry listened to every word attentively.

“Last night I think I lost my patience, last night I came to a realization and I hope you can take it. I hope you can take it.”

He took the two bottles out and gave one to Doris and one to Ernest. He was still singing. Those words. Those lyrics. That couldn’t be a coincidence, right?

“I’m too good to you. I’m way too good for you. You take my love for granted. I just don’t understand it.”

He started working on his own breakfast, taking a few pieces of bread to toast, and he put the kettle on to make tea. Still singing, but with a voice that was just a tad higher, tackling Rihanna’s lyrics now. Nope. No coincidence at all.

“I don’t know how to talk to you. I just know I find myself getting lost with you.”

He placed six plates on the table and took six mugs out of the cupboard to set the table. Still singing.

“I’m too good to you. I’m way too good for you.”

Louis and Harry hadn’t talked, yet thanks to Drake and Rihanna the message was crystal clear to Harry. There really was no point in staying here a moment longer. He went back to Dan’s room to make the bed and to check whether he had everything. He decided there was only thing to do now, and that was to take off without discussing the kiss with Louis. It clearly was not something that was up for discussion.

He entered the kitchen once more when he was ready to go, seeing Louis put pieces of toast on every plate. He really was cute, preparing everything alone to take care of his siblings like that and singing in the kitchen early in the morning. Seeing how adorable he was right now, made it even harder for Harry to go, but he really had to. Self-preservation, and all that.

“Yeah, so I’m going to take off now. Thanks for letting me crash here. I’ll see you in London.”

“No worries mate. I might stay here for a few more days until Fizzy’s back home. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them all.”

“Sure, take your time. Cheers,” and Harry walked out.

When he got in his car, he briefly wondered how the Tomlinson family was going to get to the hospital today, but he decided it was none of his concern. His only concern right now was how Louis had practically broken his heart just by preparing breakfast. He could still hear his voice, singing ‘I don’t know how to talk to you’ and ‘I’m way too good for you’. So, Louis really wasn’t into him then. He didn’t know to talk to him. And he thought he was too good for Harry. At least he knew now.

He started the car and the radio started playing. Nick’s voice came through the speakers. Nick, who wasn’t dating Louis either. Also not his type. Apparently nobody was good enough for him.

“Well, to those who have just joined us, I wish thee all a glorious Sunday morning. To stay on topic, I’ll play this appropriate No Doubt song, Sunday Morning.” Nick stopped taking, and he heard Gwen Stefani singing:

“You came in with the breeze, On Sunday Morning. You sure have changed since yesterday, without any warning I thought I knew you, I thought I knew you, so well.”

Harry took his phone and sent Nick a text:

**Mate, super appropriate indeed. I hate Sunday Morning**.

Nick’s reply was immediate: _Everything okay? Or just a No Doubt hater?_

**I hate Gwen since she dumped our British Gavin for that Cowboy dude.**

_I hear you. What’s wrong with our British finest?_

**Yup. Cheer me up.**

_How? Working now._

**Play me happy songs. I’m in the car.**

_On it._

_Drinks this evening?_

**Hear hear!**

Halfway through the song, Nick started talking again. “Ok my dear listeners, this might be a bit unconventional, but this song is seriously depressing for a Sunday morning. Let’s go for something happy instead. Any ideas? Text or tweet me. I’ll get us started. If you’re in the car, or just making breakfast at home, make sure to sing along and you’ll be in a good mood in no time! This is Katrina & The Waves.”

And Katrina took over and started singing “I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I’m sure.”

Harry wasn’t sure if these lyrics were going to cheer him up, but then his mobile buzzed again.

_Don’t focus on the lyrics. Focus on the melody. Sing along in your car. LOUD. NOW!_

At that point, the chorus started and Harry sang along indeed, as loud as he possibly could. “I’m walking on sunshine, ooooo-ooo, and don’t it feel good!” By the end of the song he was smiling indeed.

**You know me too well.**

_I’m not done yet. Listen and sing, and smile my friend. See you tonight._

“To continue this happy madness, I’ve got a real classic for you. You all know it. So, if your housemates aren’t up yet, turn up your radio, sing along, wake everyone up, and smile all day long my dear listeners. These are The Foundations with Build Me Up Buttercup.”

Harry continued singing and dancing in his car: “Why do you build me up – build me up – Buttercup, baby just to let me down – let me down – and mess me around.”

Nick carried on playing happy uplifting songs, and Harry went on dancing for the entire ride. About an hour and a half later, Harry found himself parking in front of his mum’s house in Holmes Chapel. It hadn’t been a conscious decision to go there, not really, it had just kind of happened. When he had left Louis’ house, he hadn’t thought to drive to his mum’s, but it seemed the car and his own driving had taken him there nonetheless. Right then, a bit of mum is always a good idea.

He rang the bell and his mum opened in her dressing gown, and it was clear that she hadn’t been awake for that long.

“Harry? What are you doing here?” She gave him a hug and he really held her tight, not willing to let go immediately. Face it, when your heart is broken you need a hug from the sweetest mum in the world.

“Is everything alright love?” Still hugging. Harry wasn’t ready to let go yet.

“Let’s go inside dear. I’ll make us some tea.” Inside. Tea. Two key concepts that made Harry let go.

“Hi mum,” he said. “I’m so glad to see you. It’s been too long. Tea time sounds like a great plan indeed.”

They went inside and Anne quickly ran upstairs to get changed, while Harry prepared the tea. He knew exactly how she liked it: in her favourite Loose Women mug, earl grey tea with a dash of milk and two lumps of sugar. He had been living in London for a couple of years now, but he would never forget how to make his mum her tea. He had been doing that for as long as he could remember.

By the time she returned, two mugs were waiting upon the kitchen table.

“Good morning love,” she walked to him and kissed his cheek carefully, again hugging him. Then she whispered: “Care to tell me why you’re here exactly?”

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“No dear, because something must be up if you arrive here at this hour, on a Sunday morning. As happy as I am to see you, I’m not completely dumb. Something’s up. Talk to me love.”

And so he did. He explained the Louis situation and how it had progressed from when they had lost spoken on the phone. He took his time to slowly explain every tiny little detail that had occurred during the weekend. He started with Friday night, when the two of them had indulged in a very hilarious game of I Never. He continued with Saturday, which had been a real emotional rollercoaster for the two of them, ending in a kiss. And that brought him to Sunday, and Louis’ clear rejection while nonchalantly yet lovingly preparing the youngest twins’ bottles.

“You need to talk to him. Like, really talk this time. No lyrics, or movie quotes. Just the two of you, and you tell him how you feel. You can’t be sure that he doesn’t like you back just because he was singing a song this morning.”

“I am pretty sure though.” Harry shrugged, looking defeated.

“Yes, and that makes you pretty stupid.” Anne said. “Talk to him.”

“No. He told me he doesn’t like discussing his feelings, and that he overdosed me on emotional talk on Friday and Saturday already, and that he wasn’t going to do that anymore.”

“Good explanation, but all I hear are excuses. Harry, come on. You don’t fall in love that easily. But when you do, you fall hard. You really seemed to care a lot about this Louis guy. You need to at least try.”

“I have tried. I mean, I kissed him.”

“And how is he supposed to know that that kiss means I-am-so-in-love-with-you? If you don’t tell him, he’ll never know. He can assume it was your attempt to make him feel better for a while, or just a mistake on your part. Tell him.”

“I don’t know. It’s a kiss. A kiss is pretty clear, isn’t it? You don’t kiss someone you don’t like, do you now?”

“I don’t know love. Listen Harry. Tell him about it. Tell him everything you feel. Give him every reason to accept that you’re for real.”

“Are you quoting Billy Joel now?”

“Yes dear,” she sighed. She gave him a stern look. “Your explanation clarified that the two of you seem to communicate through song lyrics, so I thought that if I were to speak your language, you know, using song lyrics instead, you might actually understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“We usually sing them though.” Harry smirked.

So Anne started singing, using Billy Joel’s Tell Her About It. “Tell him about it. Tell him everything you feel. Give him every reason to accept that you’re for real.” She was a clever lady, so she changed every she into he, and just like that the song lyrics became a perfect fit for Harry’s situation. He couldn’t help but smile, seeing his mum singing on a Sunday morning. He got up and hugged her again.

“I love you mum.”

“Ditto babycakes.”

 

////

 

A few hours later, after a very elaborate lunch, a walk to the Holmes Chapel viaduct, a promise to come back soon, and about 1547520 more hugs Harry wanted to drive back to London, for real this time. His mum had other plans. Anne made him stand up on a chair in the kitchen, and swear that he would tell Louis how he felt. He felt like an idiot. Here he was, a superstar, an idol, a millionaire, standing upon a chair in his mum’s kitchen, swearing he would tell a boy that he loved him. This was just absurd. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ashton Kutcher jumped out and yelled “Punked”! After that, he was allowed to leave though, so he didn’t make a big deal out of it and just swore he would. Then he got another hug (number 1547521) and he crawled in his car. First, he texted Nick.

**Your place tonight?**

_Then you can’t drink honey._

**Don’t honey me Grimmy. I’ve got work tomorrow soooo.**

_Oooh Someone’s feeling better already. My place, 7ish?_

**Pur-fect.**

He loved using ‘pur-fect’ in texts. All the boys started doing it since the videoclip for Best Song Ever was released a few years ago. Each time he typed it, he got a visual from Liam in that ridiculous outfit, and he heard his voice stressing every syllable of the word. Pur-fect.

 

A few hours later, he rang Nick’s doorbell. He opened the door with two cocktail glasses in his hand, both of them filled with a pink drink, a strawberry on the edge of the glass, and an umbrella for whatever reason Nick thought appropriate.

“Welcome dear! I made you a strawberry daiquiri to welcome you to my humble house.”

“Classy. But unnecessary _dear_. I told you, I’m working tomorrow. No alcohol.”

“Oh come on, don’t be such a spoil sport. You know how long it took me to make these?”

“Ten full minutes?” Harry guessed as he walked in and accepted one of the drinks. The two men strolled into the living room and both of them took a lounge chair. Yes, Nick owned fancy lounge chairs. He had a valid reason for those chairs though. He had stars painted upon his ceiling and otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see them. Hence, lounge chairs.

“Even less. Four! Four times sixty seconds my dear! So that means that you have to drink yours in four minutes.”

“Uh, I don’t know what your reasoning is for that, but I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“It is in my house. My casa, my rules.”

“Did you already have one of these cocktails yourself?”

“Why yes of course I did. I would be a terrible host if I served you something I didn’t try first. A few times. You know, just to make sure the recipe was flawless.”

“Sure. Thanks so much Nick. You really sacrificed yourself there, didn’t you?” Harry asked, giving him a strict look.

“I smell sarcasm. Yugh. I’m not a fan of your sarcasm Mister Styles. Just enjoy your drink, will you?”

“I will. Just this one though. We’re writing again tomorrow, and a hangover is not an option.”

“Noted.” Nick said.

The two of the remained in the lounge chairs and started discussing random things, as usual. Both Nick and Harry were known for their completely useless and irrelevant but somehow yet very entertaining conversations. Today was no different, and they discussed several captivating topics, such as the future of polar bears, which penguin to buy, strawberries versus raspberries for cocktail use, who would get the throne in Game of Thrones, hangover remedies, and different shades of blue.

“How about azure blue?” Harry asked.

‘Well, that would work for your kitchen, for example. But there’s no way azure works for a living room, for a car, or for a suit for that matter. Maybe for shoes?”

“Azure shoes? Well, that’s definitely more interesting than  navy blue shoes.”

“Yugh. Navy blue should be avoided at all times. The only people who are allowed to wear navy blue, are the kids who are in Ravenclaw. That’s it.”

“What about sky blue?” Harry asked again.

“Well, sky blue is just a wrong word choice, isn’t it? I mean, sky blue is the type of blue for the sky in Italy or in Spain. Not for the English sky, right? It’s grey pretty much all year long. They should totally call it Spanish sky blue.”

“That would be more accurate indeed. What about indigo blue then?”

“That only works for purses, gowns, and wedding suits. Period.”

“If you were straight, you could have an indigo wedding. Classy.”

“Elegant.”

“Fancy.”

“Chic.” Nick added. “Now, as much as I love discussing shades of blue with you, I seem to remember you texted me this morning. After all, there is a reason why I invited you. Shades of blue is not the reason you’re here. You texted something about not being too happy and all. Anything to say about that my friend?”

“When did you get a degree in psychology Nick?”

“Yes, keep on changing the subject. Classic. You’re trying to distract me. No game Styles. Speak up.” Nick commanded. And then he stopped talking. Harry didn’t really know where to begin, since he had already told the story once today, to his mum. Nick didn’t know anything about the Louis situation just yet, and Louis and Nick were good friends. So, where to start?

Nick coughed.

Harry sighed.

“Yeah. I mean.” Another sigh. “I’m in love with Louis.” Harry admitted.

“I knew it I knew it I knew it!” Nick exclaimed and he jumped out of his lounge chair. Before Harry understood what was going on, Nick had leapt into his arms and was hugging him firmly. “That’s great Harry.” Harry pushed him back.

“Mate, why is that great? I texted you about cheering me up, remember. It’s not great at all.” Nick climbed out of Harry’s lap and sat down next to him, on the ground.

“What happened?”

Thus, Harry told the story again. This was the 2.0 version, because telling his mum had learned him how to tell the story with panache, and without uncertainties. Plus, he knew if he skipped things or would be unclear about certain parts, Nick wouldn’t hesitate to interrupt him and he didn’t want that. When he was done, he crawled out of the lounge chair, placed himself next to Nick and laid his head upon his shoulder.

“It sucks.” Nick replied.

“Understatement.” Harry commented.

“Are you sure you don’t need another drink?”

“Nope. Writing tomorrow, remember?”

“Yes, you responsible young man. Good on you!” Nick said, entertainingly. And then his attitude changed, and his face became a bit more sincere. “I’m really surprised though. I mean, Louis and I sometimes did mention you in our conversations, and he was always so enthusiastic about you. He tended to ask questions about you, like, I got a feeling that he really liked you.”

“Yeah, well. Liking is not loving, is it now?” Harry asked. “I like him, like, really like him. I’m in love with him. He might like me, but as a friend.”

“He might.” Nick agreed. “I still can’t get over the fact that you are using the word love. You. If there was a Brit Award for player of the year, you would have won it four years in a row.”

“High praise that is.”

 “Yeah, but it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Well, not entirely. That player bit, was really just a bit. I played to be interested in people who were interested in me, I acted as if cared. I didn’t, though. I do now.”

“See, this is so much more interesting than discussing shades of blue Harry!”

“No, it is not. And we can easily combine the two topics if you want to. I mean, have you seen Louis’ eyes? They’re like the most beautiful shade of cobalt blue.” Harry used his Valley-girl-accent again, just as he had done with Louis yesterday evening while they were pranking Lottie. It hadn’t been more than 24 hours ago. “I mean, they’re like, so gorgeous.”

“Harry Styles loves Louis Tomlinson. Will you look at that?” Nick stated.

“Louis Tomlinson doesn’t love Harry Styles. Will you look at that?” Harry replied. The two of them were silent and took another sip from their drinks. Harry stared at the beautiful ceiling again.

“You’re not sure though, are you? The two of you didn’t really discuss it. Maybe it is mutual? You need to talk to him. Ask him. Be sure about all of this.”

“Nick, now you’ve lost it. You sound like my mum.” Harry scolded.

“That’s because she’s right, you wanker.”

 

/////

 

Monday morning meant going back to work. Niall and Liam didn’t investigate him anymore about Louis, and Harry didn’t bring him up either. On the contrary, Liam kept on talking about whatever new tricks his little baby had been up to. Nothing much, apparently, besides smiling and pooing, but Liam was so excited when he was talking about it, that Niall and Harry didn’t have the heart to stop him.

During their lunch break, Niall gave him a nudge. “You okay? You seem a bit quiet today?”

“I’m okay, yeah.” _Most convincing line ever Styles._

“You know you’re a terrible liar, right?” Niall smiled. “That’s okay mate. If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t. We _are_ going to talk about the Brits though,” Niall started dancing and singing: “Three nominations, three nominations, oeh-oeh! Three nominations, 66% chance of winning a Brit award lads!”

“66%? Where did you get that?” Harry asked.

“Absolutely no idea,” he shrugged. “It just sounded convincing, since you could divide it by 3 and all. What do I know, I never finished school. What I do know is that we actually have got a rather big chance of winning one, since we are nominated three times!”

“Don’t jinx it!” Liam yelled. “If we lose, it’ll be your fault!” Yeah, Liam always took these things really serious. As in, too serious.

“If we lose, we’ll survive Liam. It’s just an award, right?” Harry offered. Liam just shrugged and didn’t really seem that convinced.

“By the way, are you guys bringing dates? Or are we going together as a band?” Niall inquired. Right, distracting Liam, that was a good idea.

“I’m taking Cheryl. It’s our date night this week,” Liam stated.

“Fancy shit that is, Brit awards as your date night. You sound like a proper diva, Liam. What about you Harry?”

“I’m going solo,” and then he started singing: “The story of my life…”

“Do you want to do the red carpet together then? I haven’t got a date either,” Niall said.

“You? Prince Charming? You haven’t got a date? Has the world gone mad?” Harry mocked, feigning innocence.

“Oh shut up. I liked you better when you were all sad, pouting, brooding Harry. And, you know, I’m totally going to score a lucky chick at the after party. Might snog Rihanna while I’m at it.”

Liam and Harry snorted, and Niall blissfully continued his quite thorough explanation of who he was going to snog, who he might consider taking home, and who stood no chance at all. “Like, Beyoncé could literally get on her knees and beg me, but I would never even think about taking her home. Not for a second. I mean, I’ve seen Jay-Z in real life. That is one scary bloke.” Harry knew he was talking just to distract him, and he was grateful for such a good friend. And a funny one as well.

 

////

 

Harry was watching tv, chilling in his heavenly couch after a productive day of writing, when he got a text from Louis:

_Hi you, Fizzy’s home again. Thanks so much for all of your lovely messages and support, you have been amazing. She still needs rest, but feel free to visit. Greetings, Louis._

It took Harry a while to understand that it was a general message that he had probably sent to lots of his friends, or even his entire contact list. He had no idea how he was supposed to answer that, and if Louis even expected that. Yet, he had made the effort to send this message to Harry as well, so that must mean something, right?

He started on composing a reply, but his mind went blank. The only thing that came to mind was ‘you’re welcome’, which would be the lamest reply in history. He knew exactly what type of reply he wanted to create though: First of all, he wanted to write something that would catch Louis’ attention, because he would be getting lots of texts now. Second, he also wanted his message to be a bit funny, because he thought Louis deserved to smile. Third, he also wanted to refer to the kiss a bit, but not too obvious, because Louis might not want to talk about it. Last, he wanted to ask him when he was coming back, but without pressuring him.

He typed lots of messages, but erased them all. Nothing was good enough, there were simply no words that met all of his demands.

He went to get another drink and found some leftover cookies in the cupboard. And then it hit him: replying just had to happen in the form of lyrics. His own words wouldn’t do. Harry vividly remembered Louis’ words about the kiss (“as if”) and the emphasis on the word ‘friends’. Those two facts helped him choose one of his own all-time favourites by Groove Armada. He remembered when the song was released, he sang it together with his friends during the summer whenever they were hanging out together. The lyrics seemed to apply in this scenario as well, so he took his phone and typed:

**Whenever I’m down, I call on you my friend. A helping hand you lend, in my time of need.**

Obviously, it had been the other way around, since Harry had lent him a helping hand, and Louis could call on him whenever he needed, but Harry thought that went without saying. It was the emotions that were hidden in the lyrics: being there for a friend.

He stared at it for a couple of more seconds, and pressed send. Louis’ reply was immediate.

_Groove Armada?_

_I see you baby._

Apparently, Louis knew the song as well, otherwise his reply wouldn’t have been this fast. He obviously didn’t need time to google the lyrics. Louis knew them by heart, just as Harry did.

And then there was the second reply. I See You Baby was another song by Groove Armada. The lyrics weren’t that deep, really. It was just: ‘I see you baby, shaking that ass, shaking that ass, shaking that ass.’ So, was Louis trying to tell him that he knew another song by Groove Armada? Or, was he referencing the shaking-that-ass part of the song? Was he – could he be, flirting? Best to ignore that idea, probably not. Moreover, Harry was stuck with the same feeling as he had been the last hour: what on earth to reply?

Again, he wanted to be funny, to be special, to be serious, to stand out. Again, it didn’t seem in the cards for him. No more lyrics this time, he decided to just be himself.

**Glad to hear Fizzy’s doing good. Are you coming home soon then?**

_Home? I am home superstar._

Harry obviously couldn’t have expected Louis to call his house home since he had only lived there a few weeks. But still, this hurt.

**When are you coming back here? My house? London?**

_Smooth Styles. You flirting again?_

_Patience is a virtue my dear._

Before Harry had the time to answer the flirting question, Louis had written him another text with a cliché and fairly pointless expression. Where was this conversation going? Harry wasn’t able to keep up with Louis so decided to just be himself. No quotes, no lyrics, no expressions. This was Harry speaking, when he typed:

**Patience is not one of my qualities. Please come back. I want cannelloni!**

Harry was pleased with his reply. It contained everything he wanted: it was honest, to the point, but there was some humour in there as well.

_Take that - Patience_

Even though Harry was in a boyband himself, he wasn’t really that acquainted with Take That’s oeuvre. Sure, they had been Britain’s greatest band somewhere in the 90s, but Harry had been a toddler back then. Even though he would never ever admit this to Louis, he googled the lyrics.

 

Just have a little patience  
I'm still hurting from a love I lost,  
I'm feeling your frustration,  
Any minute all the pain will stop,  
Just don't be close inside your arms tonight,  
don't be too hard on my emotions.  
  
Cause I need time,  
My heart is numb, has no feeling,  
So while I’m still healing,  
Just try and have a little patience.  
  
I really wanna start over again,  
I know you wanna be my salvation,  
The one that I can always depend,  
I'll try to be strong, believe me,  
I'm trying to move on,  
It's complicated, but understand me,  
  
Cause I need time,  
My heart is numb, has no feeling,  
So while I’m still healing,  
Just try and have a little patience Yeah,  
Have a little patience, Yeah

 

Harry read the lyrics. Then he read them again. Once more. And another time. He sat there, staring at the lyrics upon the screen in front of him. Take That told him the following: Louis needed some time, and he had just asked Harry to have a little patience.

Time? Patience? What for? For him to come and move out? For friendship? Roommates? People who kiss? Or more?

Take That had given him more questions than answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I wasn't sure how to handle the end... Sorry about that. If you have suggestions to improve it, feel free to leave them here.


	11. Brit Awards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Harry kissed Louis, but Louis pushed Harry away. Now everybody wants him to talk about it.  
> Harry has more important issues than talking to Louis, because the Brit Awards are taking place.

Harry was on his way to have lunch with Gemma on Tuesday, and he wondered he should inform her about the tricky Louis predicament, in order to get some of her exceptionally wise advice. Gemma was a few years older than Harry, and she had always been there with great advice whenever he needed it. On small matters, like where to shop, or about important things, such as contracts. She always listened to him first, and then advised him what to do in just a few sentences, before moving on to the next subject. He knew she would know what to do now as well. So, asking her would be a good idea. Gemma’s advice was always rock solid. However, he also remembered his mum’s and Nick’s words to just tell Louis, and he didn’t know whether he was ready to hear that explanation for a third time.

However, his sister didn’t really give him a choice in the matter. When he entered the restaurant, she was already there. As soon as they had given each other a big hug, and they were seated, she said: “Alright doofus, tell me about the progress you’ve made with your roommate!”

“Hi Gems, how are _you_ today?” Harry asked, grinning.

“No way Harry! Don’t you dare to change the topic. Tell me tell me tell me everything that has happened since our phone call!”

“I wasn’t changing the subject, I was merely being polite is all,” he shrugged.

“Okay okay, we were raised to be polite indeed. So let’s get the pleasantries out of the way then. How am I today? Well my dear brother, I’m fine. Everything’s good. Boyfriend’s good. Work’s good. Dog’s good. Now leave me alone and start talking.”

Harry chuckled and considered himself in luck, since he really had the best sister in the world.

“Do you want the short version or the long one?”

“The long one, obviously. What part of ‘tell me everything’ don’t you understand? Come on, start talking.” Gemma poked him in the shoulder, literally pressing him to get a move on.

He was an obliging brother and so he started telling the story, once again. He should really thank Louis, because there was one big advantage to this entire situation: Harry was quickly becoming a master storyteller, Gemma didn’t interrupt him once, and he only stopped talking when the waiter came over with their food, and a bit later to clear their plates.

“Wow,” she said when he had finally finished the story with yesterday’s texts and the lyrics from Patience.  “That’s some heavy shit.”

“Language Gemma!” Harry scolded. He mostly wanted her to comment a bit more, to say something a bit more useful than merely stating ‘wow’. “No, seriously, what do you think? What should I do?”

“That is a very good question H.”

“Yup. So enlighten me. What do I do?”

Gemma seemed to ponder, before she gave him an innocent look and said: “I don’t have a clue.”

“You don’t have a clue? How is that even possible? You are always the one with great advice, aren’t you?”

“Well, normally, yes. But usually you need my advice on random things, such as shoes or tiles. Now it's some life changing love that you’re asking me about. That’s way too much responsibility for me, little brother.”

“But… But…” Harry tried.

“Patience, my dear. That’s all that I can offer you as advice so far,” she patted Harry’s shoulder, to comfort him. “Patience. It’s what Louis said, right? So, follow his lead. Just be patient. Let him come to you.”

“See, that’s advice. I knew you could do it sis.”

“And you know, if you have been patient, and you finally see him again, tell him how you feel.”

“Ugh. Why does everybody keep saying that?”

“Because it’s good advice. You know I’m always right.”

“It’s bad advice. I don’t want to tell him. What if he doesn’t feel the same?”

“That’s irrelevant. You owe him an explanation for kissing him.”

“Irrelevant?” Harry repeated, raising his voice. “Irrelevant? Whether or not he returns my adoring all-time life changing love is irrelevant? Jeez, you really know how to make me feel better.”

“You need to get it of your chest. Tell him, and let him tell you how he feels as well. Even though he might not feel the same life changing love indeed. At least, then you’ll know. If he doesn’t feel the same way, you can move on.”

“Move on.” Harry repeated, taking him time to let the words sink in. “But, I don’t want to move on. I want to be with him. I want to kiss him, every day when I wake up and when I go to bed.”

“Oh God Harry, listen to yourself! Who are you and what have you done to my brother?” Gemma joked.

“Louis turned me into a sap,” he whispered. “I know it’s lame to say that and all, but it’s true. I never thought about those things, you know, settling down, because there always was a new album to be made, or a tour. But now, it’s like, I can’t stop thinking about Louis. He did really make me sappy.”

“Sappy McSapson.” Gemma chuckled, and Harry nodded.

“This sap has got some more work to do, so is it okay if we wrap this up?” Harry asked, still grinning about the Sappy McSapson comment.

“Sure. Shall I come over this evening for more advice, hugs, and cookies?”

“That’s quite alright sis, I can take care of myself.”

“Whatever you say. Don’t forget the key words: patience, and tell him.” Gemma said, while pointing her finger at him as if he were a schoolboy.

“Patience, and tell him. I think I got it,” and the two of them hugged goodbye outside.

“Good boy. See you soon, keep me posted, and good luck with everything. With Louis, and the Brits tomorrow. Kick ass, on both fronts!”

“Will do sis. Love you!”

“Love you too Sappy,” she chuckled once again.

 

 

////

 

 

“Alright lads, tonight’s the night! Brit Brit Brit Awards!” Nial exclaimed, putting his fist into the air.

“Yes, Cheryl’s super excited about it. So am I!” Liam chipped in.

Harry, Liam and Niall had only been working for a few hours, but since they had the Brit Awards later that evening, their workday ended at noon. All three of them were buzzing, because it was the Brit Awards. Just being nominated was a tremendous honour. Award shows all over the world were pretty much the same, but there was just something special about an award show in your own country, being appreciated by your own people, and performing for British fans. The O2-arena was always a special experience, and they were always buzzing when they were going there: to perform, to an award show, to the X-factor finals, or to watch a show themselves: the O2 was just an incredible place, where they had created some incredibly awesome memories over the years.

“How about the speeches? Should we prepare something?” Liam asked, back into his serious mode.

“No way mate, that’ll jinx it for sure,” Niall replied. “You know, our speeches are pretty much the same anyway every single time, aren’t they? Just thanking everyone and emphasising that we have the best fans in the world, that’s it!”

“That’s why I’m asking. Maybe we should do or say something different this time?”

“So you’re that confident that we’re going to win?” Harry asked him.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but there’s always the Video of the Year Award, and since the fans are voting for that one, I take it there’s a humungous chance that we might get that one. You know, our fans take the voting super seriously and all.”

“They sure do. That’s because we’re awesome. Awesome people attract awesome fans. It makes perfect sense,” Niall stated, as if it were rocket science.

“Yeah,” Harry continued, “but I would like to win one of those other awards for a change. You know, the ones that the press and music people decide upon? That would be nice.”

“Well, we’ve got three chances.”

“And three boys… So maybe we should divide the three awards, and who is going to speech for which one?” Harry offered.

“Mate, jinxing it again. Stop it. Like, now!” Niall yelled, while punching Harry’s shoulder.  

“Bloody hell, it’s noon and the awards are this evening. The votes have already been counted. Nothing what I would do or say today would jinx our chances of winning Niall. Seriously, lighten up.”

“Sorry, I’m a bit nervous. And excited. And giddy. And exhilarated.” Niall pouted, giving Harry his most innocent face and silently pleading for him not to get mad.

“I get it. Now, we’re going together this evening, right? Shall I get Alberto to pick you up? Lou’s coming over to mine to prepare me.”

“Mate, Lou’s grooming you? No fair! I’m coming over earlier and she’s fixing me up as well man. Gotta look good for the ladies tonight. I don’t want fancy Mister Styles to outshine me!” Niall winked, and Harry couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re on. See you in a bit then!”

“I’ll see you guys on the red carpet,” Liam added, while all three boys left the studio.

“Brits Brits Brits!” Niall kept on shouting. They were a strange combination, the three of them: Liam, all serious and invested, Harry, all quirky and creative, and Niall, all happy-go-lucky and hilarious, but it worked. It had always worked. They had been successful from day one, and it never had felt like work, since these boys just matched. Matched for a full 100%. Some people had doubted when their first album was released whether they were going to stick around for long, but here they were, five years later, still at the top, still going strong. Three totally different characters, but one very like-minded group. Three distinct singers, but all going in the same direction. They couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate name, really.

 

Just three hours later, Niall arrived at Harry’s house, together with Lou and little Luxie.

“Home alone?” Niall asked when the three of them walked in. Lux immediately ran towards the living room, because she knew that’s where she could play.

“Yup.”

“Still no word from Louis then?”

“Nope.” He really didn’t feel like explaining the entire story, again, for the umpteenth time. Short answers were the way to go.

“Is he coming back, or did he take everything with him when you guys left?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I haven’t gotten around to checking his room yet. Well, it’s technically still my room, but you know what I mean.” Harry had actually been in a great mood, but Niall had succeeded in ruining it with a few questions. Niall’s face actually gave away that he understood what he had done, and he offered Harry a pat on the shoulder.

“You know what? I’ll go check out his, or your room, however you would like to call it. Then I’m going to use your fancy bathroom to take a long shower, scrubbing myself clean for the girl I’m taking home tonight. In the meantime, Lou can get started on you.” Harry felt thankful that he had a friend who could read him like a book, and he simply nodded and walked into the living room, joining Lou and Lux. Lou was organising all her stuff on the table, while Lux was organising a tea party for her dolls. She loved playing with dolls and Harry loved tea, so he had bought her a fancy Victorian tea set to play with. She absolutely loved it, and couldn’t be bothered to play with anything else every single time when they were at Harry’s.

“How about a classic tailored look, James Bond Style?” Lou asked him, holding up an outfit, and then she raised a second one: “Or how about this fancy vintage look, young Mick Jagger style?”

“Do you really need to ask?” Harry said, while he placed himself in a chair.

“Young Mick then, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes. Definitely.”

“No surprises there,” Lou chuckled. “I’ll get started then.”

Lou was awesome. Harry had met her on their start at the X-factor all those years ago, and he had liked her from the first second they had met. An instant connection, if you will. To this day, she is both his stylist and a friend. A good friend. A close friend. A friend who would notice whenever something’s wrong.

“So, when are you going to tell me about this new boy?” Lou asked him casually, without looking him in the eye, but focussing on combing his hair. 

“Not you too,” he sighed.

“Touchy subject?”

“I haven’t seen him since Sunday but I’ve spoken more about him these last couple of days than I’ve actually spoken to him last week.” Okay, technically that wasn’t true, but it still felt like that.

“Ok, no talking about him. Noted. Can I at least see his picture then, so I can fantasize my own story?”

“You’re such a weirdo.” Harry said, while taking his phone and showing Lou one of their selfies.

“Oh, so it _is_ the boy from that selfie you recently posted? He is adorable. And, he’s got really nice hair. I would love to get my hands on it. You know, quiff it up. Try out of few hair styles.”

“Welcome to my world,” Harry smirked. “Well, not for the quiff, but for the hands in the hair. That would be good.”

“Oh my darling, you’ve got it bad.” Lou teased.

“I do I do I do. I’m so screwed.”

“Why? You’ve never dated anyone longer than a couple of dates, and there were always girls that you weren’t interested in in the first place. You’ve had some hook-ups in clubs, in cities far away, but darling, you’re getting older. You deserve a normal relationship. Why not go all in?”

“I went all in. I mean, I kissed him. He pushed me away.” Harry was upset again, and his voice sounded genuinely sad. He had been repeating the pushing away part over and over again the last couple of days, and Lou sensed that she had taken it too far.

“Oh darling. My sweet, sweet darling,” she whispered in his ear while hugging him, “You deserve the best. You deserve an enormous special wonderful guy who is going to love you back just as much as you love him.” Harry couldn’t help but smile now, because Lou was just the best. And hearing her whisper those words, made him believe them as well. One day, he would get a guy that would love him back, who’d love him just as much as he loved him. The only downside was that he was still picturing Louis as the guy to do that.

He joined Lux’s tea party to focus on something else, and Lou didn’t push the topic but got a teacup as well. The three of them were chattering heavily, discussing which is the best tea of all time when Niall jogged back in wearing nothing but boxers.

“I am here, freshly showered,” he yelled, “100% ready to be styled by the one and only incredible Lou!”

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Harry offered.

“In contrast to what some people might believe, it’s the Brits, and I think it’s a big deal. And, tonight, I’m getting head!” Niall shouted, while dancing in the couch. Harry had an immediate flashback to when he and Louis had been dancing in the exact same spot. This time, with Niall, is was funny as well, but it wasn’t quite the same.

“Niall, lovely that you’re so excited dear, but please mind your language.” Lou stated as she pointed at Lux.

“Right. Sorry ‘bout that. Fix me up then.”

“On it,” she said, as she went back into styling mood. “Now, what style did you have in mind?” Harry heard Lou and Niall discuss whatever styling options she had, but he kind of tuned out and focussed upon Lux instead. A tea party with a set of dolls wasn’t bound to lead to a lot of drama, and he preferred that.

“Harry? Harry? Harry?” Niall asked, Sheldon style, a couple of minutes later.

“Sorry, I was really focussed upon adding a dash of milk to doll number 1’s tea.”

“Not doll 1! That’s Georgina, uncle Harry.” Lux offered.

“Georgina, right. I’ll leave Georgina for a second here, because uncle Niall apparently has a problem.”

“That’s okay. Georgina can talk to Victoria instead.” Lux said, as she took the doll and gave her another seat, next to another doll whose name clearly was Victoria. Harry went back to Lou and Niall, and signalled him to continue.

“I’m all ears mate. What’s up?”

“I just checked Louis’ room by the way, as promised. You know, there’s like, still a lot of his stuff, so he’s definitely coming back.”

“Okay.” Harry said, trying to tone down his happiness because Niall obviously wasn’t done talking just yet.

“But, did you know that he painted in the room?” Niall asked him.

“Yeah. I mean, he asked me if it was alright that he painted a bit because it was so white, and he was bored. I said he could. He even whatsapped me some pictures of paint samples from when he was shopping for paint.”

“Have you seen it?”

“No. We left so suddenly last week, and I haven’t checked his room since I got back. I know it sounds incredibly stupid, but I fear it’s going to remind me of him so much and I’m just trying to avoid that.”

“Bloody hell! Have you seen _anything_ from what he painted? Not even the beginning then?”

“No, I haven’t.” Harry really didn’t understand what the big deal was.

“Mate, you’ve got to check it out. I mean, really. Go and take a look at the room.”

“I will, tomorrow. I’m not in the mood to go there now.”

“Like, now. It’s important. Go and see for yourself.”

“Mate, it’s just a room and it’s just same paint. Why so much fuss?” Harry asked, and just as Niall opened his mouth to answer, the doorbell rang. Both boys checked the time and came to the same conclusion:

“That must be the taxi driver.”

“Impeccable timing, as I’ve just finished. Alright boys, stand up.” The two men obliged willingly, and they both turned around so Lou could check their entire look and outfit once more before they left.

“You both look magnificent. Now, go and kick some Brit Awards’ ass. Or win some. Or get some head.” Lou said, while she gave Niall a wink. Harry and Niall gave her a kiss in return, thanked her profoundly, and started walking towards the door.

“You’re alright with just seeing yourself out? You’re sure you’re okay with that?” Harry inquired, just to make sure. Always a gentleman.

“Yeah Harry, no worries. Just go!”

“Aye aye Lou!”

 

They didn’t win ‘Song of the Year’, but Adele did. Harry was okay with that, since he was genuinely convinced himself that her song was better than theirs.

They didn’t win ‘Album of the Year’, but Ed Sheeran did. Harry really didn’t know how to feel about that. He was super excited for Ed, because he knew how much time and effort it had taken Ed to produce the album. He also knew that he wrote everything himself, and he loved Ed’s lyrics. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment, since he was really proud of their latest album as well. They had written all of the songs themselves, and they had poured their hearts and souls into it. Yet, when he saw Ed’s incredibly big grin, his disappointment disappeared in a heartbeat and he was just proud of his friend.

They did win ‘Video of the Year’, as usual. It was the only Brit Award that was decided by the fans, and that’s why they were 99% sure that they were going to win anyway, because One Direction had a fanbase that was as loyal as a penguin. They gave a short speech, Liam taking the lead, in which they thanked their fans, their families, and obviously Ben, the director of the video. Harry was extremely happy with the award, but he couldn’t help but think that their win and their speech was pretty much a copy of the Brit Awards last year.

 

////

 

Just like that, the show was over and they all headed to the after party. If there was one thing the Brits were known for, it was the absolutely smashing after party every year. Last year, Harry had stayed until 7 in the morning, and he definitely hadn’t been the last one to leave. Even the American artists who had taken the effort to cross the Atlantic for an award show were always impressed when they arrived at the after party. So, logically, all three boys were pretty excited.

“Lads, if I disappear out of the blue, that means I’ve hooked up with the most beautiful girl in the room and she just agreed to go home with me. That means I’ll be getting lucky all night long, and I won’t waste any of my getting-lucky-time to come and say goodbye to you shits before I leave.”

“Waw Niall, you’re such a charming lad. I can’t believe they actually call you the cute one!” Cheryl said.

“Well, I’m just being honest. I thought girls appreciated that?”

“I don’t know about girls, but we sure do. Thanks for the heads up.” Liam smirked. “Alright, how about some drinks then?”

They spent the first drink together, still huddled up as One Direction, but by the second drink, they started moving around the crowd and Harry quickly lost sight of his bandmates. He chatted with Ed for a while, and congratulated him with his win. Ed gave him another drink in return to comfort him because he knew that Harry had his heart set on winning ‘Album of the Year’. Later on, he bumped into Adele, and he congratulated her as well. She merely smiled and walked on. Then he joined the crowd on the dancefloor, and all of the sudden he found himself dancing next to Nick, who gave him another drink. The two of them danced like complete morons, and Harry loved every single second. He saw Niall a bit further, dancing closely with a pretty blonde girl, and he gave him a thumbs up. Niall just winked and started snogging her. Subtlety had never been his forte.

He felt a bit tipsy, so he went to the bar to get some water. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Harry slowly turned around, suddenly being very aware that he wasn’t sober. It was Steve Aoki.

“Harry Styles.” Steve said, giving him a serious look.

“Steve Aoki.” Harry said, although he used more of a questioning intonation, since he had no idea what was going on. He had seen Steve during other award shows in the past, but they had never spoken before. Normally, deejays were just too cool to speak to boyband members. That was kind of the hierarchy in the music world. Pathetic, but true nonetheless.

“You know Louis Tomlinson.” Steve pointed out.

“I do.”

“So do I. Be nice. He has been through enough these past couple of months. He doesn’t need some closeted boybander to take advantage of him.”

“I am nice!” Harry defended himself. _Weakest defence ever_ , but still.

“You know what I mean.” Steve said.

“I really don’t though.” Harry truthfully whispered. “I’ve been nothing but nice to him. He really is a wonderful person.”

“He is. He’s awesome. So be nice.” Steve placed his hands upon Harry’s shoulders and repeated the words again, slowly, as if Harry were a complete and utter idiot. “Be. Nice. To. Louis.” Harry couldn’t do anything else but nod.

“Something different now. You’re a really good singer though. What’s your vocal range? I’ve created a new song which is definitely going to be a top 10 hit, but I need a baritone to sing it. Popular baritones, slim pickings.”

“Uhm, yeah. I’m a baritone.” Harry agreed. This conversation had taken a quick and unexpected turn. He was offering Harry a single now?

“You interested in doing something outside of One Direction?”

“Sure.” _Wait, what?_ Harry didn’t even know whether he was allowed to, contractually speaking. Still, one of the world’s most popular deejay’s was offering. He sure as hell wasn’t going to decline.

“Yeah, so, one of my songs that I’d like to release this year still needs a singer. You know, the lyrics are all set, but it’s got some low notes and that’s not for everyone. I think you can do it.”

“Low notes are one of my specialties indeed.”

“So you’re up for it?” Steve asked, seeking confirmation for a second time.

“Yeah, that’d be brilliant!”

“Cool dude.” Steve and Harry continued discussing the song for a couple of minutes and exchanged numbers. He could easily understand why Louis and Steve got along great, because Steve was, just as Louis, a straightforward laid-back guy, who was incredibly cheeky but who could be serious at the same time as well. Harry liked him. When the conversation had run its course, Steve referred to Louis one more time.

“You remember what I said in the beginning?”

“To be nice.”

“Yeah dude. Be nice. Louis is awesome.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Glad we’re on the same page man. I’ll see you soon then.” Steve said, and then he was off. Harry still was a bit tipsy, and felt confident after his talk to Steve. He was still holding his mobile from entering his number, and so he wrote Louis a text.

**Louis! I just met Steve! He’s brilliant! Why aren’t you here? Brits after party!**

Before he could change his mind, he sent the text. He had completely forgotten about his resolution to drink some water, and so he ordered another cocktail and went back to the dancefloor. Dancing dancing dancing. He wasn’t the best dancer, but he loved dancing, and the alcohol had made him confident. He danced and danced. Then he checked his mobile. Louis had sent him two texts about fifteen minutes ago:

_Take a look around._

_What’s up with the exclamation marks by the way? You sound 12. Chill._

Harry chuckled with the second text because he indeed sounded 12, but all of the sudden the meaning of the first text sunk in: take a look around? Louis might be here? He started scanning the entire dancefloor, and the bar as well. And indeed, a bit next to the bar was Louis, talking to some blonde guy. He and Louis apparently were the same seize, because neither the blonde one or Louis needed to look up or down to stare in each other’s eyes. That’s what they were doing. Not talking, just staring. Harry started making his way towards Louis to go and say hello, and then he saw the blonde guy wrapping his arms around Louis and kissing his neck. He stopped and didn’t move.

Louis tilted his head back to give the blonde one more access to his neck and blondie took it, still kissing Louis’ neck. Harry slowly started walking back. Yet, he couldn’t find the strength to turn around and to look away from Louis. Jealousy was an emotion that was quite rare for him, being a millionaire superstar and all, but here it was. Raw, pure, jealousy.

He wanted to kill blondie.

He wanted to be the one to kiss Louis’ neck.

Then Louis pushed him away, a motion that felt incredibly familiar to Harry. He shook his head as if he were disappointed, and stepped away from blondie.  Harry suppressed a smile. Then Louis took his mobile, but he put it back in his trousers immediately.

Right, Harry hadn’t sent him an answer. Was he waiting for Harry to answer? Harry kept on looking at Louis, who still hadn’t spotted him. Louis went to the bar instead, and ordered another drink. Harry quickly took his phone, and typed two replies, a cheeky one and an inviting one. Thereby he placed the choice to meet in Louis’ hands. 

**Can’t find you shorty. Where are you so small?**

**Meet me on the dancefloor.**

He returned to the dancefloor, and started dancing again. Like a giraffe, like a penguin, like a baby deer. Never like a cool superstar, but he couldn’t care less. A song by Dua Lipa started playing, and she was dancing right next to him, so the two of them went completely insane for the entire song. “I could be the one,” Harry sang along, still keeping Louis in the back of his head, but ignoring the temptation to turn around and check whether he was still at the bar. Then a song by Little Mix started playing, and he saw Perrie dancing a bit further, so he joined her to go absolutely crazy. Next, the deejay played a song by The Chainsmokers, and they weren’t on the dancefloor, but that didn’t stop Harry from dancing as if they were standing right next to him as well. Still no sign of Louis though, and he checked his mobile.

_Sorry dancing queen, I’m on my way home. See you at breakfast?_

_You’ve got some pretty moves by the way._

Right. So Louis had left. He had seen Harry dancing, and decided to decline his invitation to join him. Yet, he had sent that second text as well, which clearly confirmed that he had seen Harry dancing, and that he found it pretty. Was Louis being sarcastic? Or genuine? Harry’s head was spinning, and he didn’t know what to do with these texts. He focussed on the first text again: see you at breakfast. That must mean that Louis was staying at Harry’s again. That had to count for something, right?

In a heartbeat he made a decision. He took a taxi home.

He quietly opened the front door and listened in the hallway to hear if Louis was still up. Harry was greeted by nothing but silence.

He quietly walked to Louis’ door.

He quietly placed his head to the door, to listen. Silence. He took his mobile and texted:

**You still awake?**

“Yes,” Louis yelled about ten seconds later. “Come in superstar.” Harry opened the door and was surprised by darkness. Only the light of the bedside lamp was burning. Louis was laying in his bed, covered by blankets. “I had just turned off the lights and then a minute later I heard you opening the door downstairs. Great timing, as ever. Congrats on your award by the way.”

“Thanks.” Right, they had won an award a few hours ago. Who had taken it? Harry had no idea where the Brit might have ended up. He was the one who had held it when they entered the after party. Where had he placed it? Niall might have taken it, to impress a girl.

“What brings you here, at this hour?” Louis asked him, tilting his head. It was half past three, indeed, not usually an hour to knock on someone’s door. And he couldn’t answer the question easily, because Harry himself didn’t really know how to describe what had brought him to Louis’ room in the first place. Yet, Louis looked so utterly adorable right now, that it was actually fairly obvious why Harry was here. He was still completely in love with Louis. However, this was not the time to tell him that. Harry went for another approach instead:

“I’m a bit sad we didn’t win ‘Album of the Year’. I’m proud we won the other one though. I’m a bit tipsy from all the cocktails. I’m excited about working with Steve. I’m a bit curious what happened between you and that blonde guy. I’m a bit worried about what happened when we last saw each other. I’m tired. I’m a bit disappointed I forgot the award at the after party.”

“Waw Harry, that’s an extensive collection of emotions. You clearly don’t have the emotional range of a teaspoon.”

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged.

“It’s too late to talk about any of it, though. How about you hop in, and we both get some sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” Louis offered, and he opened up the blankets to give Harry access. Well, there was no way Harry was not going to accept that offer. He walked to the bed, and crawled in. Immediately, he felt weird. He didn’t know how to position himself. Where to put his arms? How to position his legs? He felt a bit nervous, and out of place in Louis’ bed. All of the sudden he was very much aware of the fact that Louis was right there, next to him, which made him even more nervous. He turned around facing Louis. However, he had his eyes closed. So ten seconds later, Harry turned around again, feeling restless and incredibly stupid. He wondered how he was going to fall asleep.

Then, Louis brought the much needed salvation. He carefully placed his arms around Harry, making the latter the little spoon.

“Calm down love,” Louis whispered in Harry’s ear. “Just get some sleep.”

And that’s exactly what Harry did.

 

 

////

 

 

When he woke up, the bed was empty. No Louis, however, the sun was shining. He checked his mobile and it was nearly noon. There were some missed calls and texts, but nothing seemed that important. He slowly sat up, waking up, and took a look around the room.

The entire wall in front of him was painted. Not painted in an even colour, because the wall was still white, but it was filled with words. Not just words, lines. Lyrics, Harry realized. Louis had painted the wall with lyrics, in his most beautiful handwriting.

Harry started reading.

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, because you’re amazing just the way you are –

I may not have the softest touch. I may not say the words as such. And though I may not look like much. I’m yours –

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do –

I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you’re in the world. -

Cause, honey your soul could never grow old, it’s evergreen, and baby, your smile’s forever in my heart and memory –

I tried to be chill, but you’re so hot that I melted -

It was you who picked the pieces up when I was a broken soul, and then glued me back together, returned to me what others stole -

Remember those walls I built? Well, baby they’re tumbling down and they didn’t even put up a fight, they didn’t even make a sound. –

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true. Nothing that I wouldn’t do. Go to the ends of the earth for you to make you feel my love –

I want you so bad, I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time -

And then, Louis had made an addition in the right hand corner. Harry had to squint to be able to read it, because it was painted in fairly small letters:

         It’s for you. It’s all for you Harry.

         From Louis.


	12. Next to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Harry wakes up after the Brit Awards. He reads the love lyrics that Louis painted upon the wall, and wants to talk to him.  
> Steve Aoki has got other plans.
> 
> Obviously, this is very fictional.

Harry wasn’t sure if he had really woken up, or if he was just imagining things. So he got out of bed, placed himself in front of the wall, and read it all again. And then he read Louis’ addition in the right hand corner for a second time as well:

         It’s for you. It’s all for you Harry.

         From Louis.

Right. That could only mean one thing. That meant that Louis was in love with him as well, didn’t it?

Didn’t it?

He had to talk to Louis, as soon as possible.

Harry was a sporty guy, who occasionally went running and who kept in shape. He wasn’t extremely gifted as an athlete though, not a fast runner nor a talented football player. However, when he ran downstairs that morning, he must have set some kind of new record. Never in the history of Harry Styles had he even ran that fast.

Louis was not in the living room, so he ran to the kitchen instead. Again, no sign of Louis. Slowly, Harry was going crazy. He wanted to talk to Louis so badly. All of the lyrics upon the wall were love songs. Love declarations, almost. And then he had signed it saying it’s all for Harry. What did he mean? Harry thought it must mean that Louis liked him back, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Why wouldn’t he have kissed him back then? Why wouldn’t he stay in bed with him until they both woke up? Why would he say that Harry wasn’t his type? Why did he let some other guy kiss his neck? Why why why? So many questions, and so little answers. He really needed to talk to him. Where was Louis?

Not in the living room, not in the kitchen, not in both of their bathrooms, not in the hallway, not on the toilet, not in the music room, he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Harry came to a halt in the hallway, not knowing where to go next. He felt the irony when he started singing Justin Bieber’s words: “Where are you now that I need ya?”

At that moment, he saw some movement in the garden, and he started running again. Indeed, Louis was standing outside on the grass, talking to someone on the phone. He was faced towards the back of the garden, so he didn’t see Harry approach. Harry could hear everything he said:

“No no, I’ll try to get him there… I don’t know, he was still asleep… I was in the same room you idiot… No, nothing happened, are you crazy? He was pissed! … How much time do you have? … I’ll see what I can do, I can’t make any promises. … Have you got the lyrics there? … Thanks man. I’ll text you in a bit, yeah? … See you man.”

He hung up and turned around, facing Harry.

“Oh! You’re up already! I was just, uhm, you know…” Louis started, but Harry didn’t give him a chance to finish his sentence.

“I just saw your wall.” Harry offered.

“Yeah, I figured. Kind of hard to ignore such a flashy wall in my handwriting, right?

“Right.”

“Yeah, so, I hope you’re okay with it? I mean, I know I gave you the impression that I was going to paint the entire wall, but technically I did and…” Harry couldn’t listen any further, he had questions and he wanted answers. Now, like, as soon as possible. Also, he really wanted to kiss Louis. Again. But he was scared that he might reject him. Again.

“What does it mean? What is the meaning of the paintings on the wall?” He had been running and he was out of breath, but he spoke superfast.

“Did you read it all?” Louis asked shyly, staring at his hands while he was playing with him.

“Of course I did.”

“Well, yeah, then it speaks for itself I guess.” Louis answered, still looking down. Harry took a step closer, and he really wanted Louis to look at him now.

He didn’t.

He just took his phone, and waved it at Harry.

“So, I was just talking to Steve and he told me you guys met last night? He’s awesome, isn’t he?” Louis didn’t give Harry the time to answer, but immediately continued: “Anyway, he said he convinced you to sing one of his new singles, since he was looking for someone with a lower voice. And that’s why he called me. He, like, wanted to know whether you wanted to come to the studio now.”

“Now?” Why were they talking about Steve and his song? Why weren’t they discussing the lyrics on the wall?

“Yeah, now. He’s still in London you know, in the studio, and he’s flying back to The States this evening, so now would be really convenient for him. Otherwise you’d have to fly over next week or something, and he’s here now.”

“Okay,” Harry started slowly, “but, can we talk first? I mean, about the wall and stuff?”

“The wall and stuff? Eloquent Styles.” Louis finally looked at Harry again, and Harry could feel a smile appearing on his face. Louis really was gorgeous, especially here, out in the sunlight. He really really wanted to kiss him, but the fear of rejection still lingered. _Stupid insecurity_.

“When we went to bed yesterday, you said we could talk today.” Harry protested.

“We can Harry. We will. Just not now. Now you need to go and get dressed, so we can go to the studio as quickly as possible, so you can go and impress Steve with your rugged and manly voice.”

“But…” Harry started. Louis took a step closer and kissed him on the cheek.

“Later love. We’ll talk later.” Louis mesmerized him with his words, and just like that, he found himself walking back to his room, getting dressed, and crawling into the car next to Louis. It was as if Louis had put a spell on him. Harry was powerless. He had no control.

 

 

Steve was indeed at the studio already, and he welcomed Harry by hugging him as if they had been friends for years.

“Harry, dude, I’m so pumped you could make it! I’m flying out tonight, so it would be awesome if we could just fix this today.”

“Sure, no worries.” He saw Steve giving Louis a typical bromance hug, that really suited the two boys. He was genuinely endeared by the bond Steve and Louis seemed to share. He just wished Louis would hug him too.

Louis sat down, and Steve and Harry entered the booth. Steve had everything set up over there, and he handed Harry a piece of paper with the lyrics.

“This is it man. It’s called ‘Next to You’. Now, first of all you need to understand that this is, like, a very personal song. I mean, they don’t get more personal than this. So, I need to hear the emotion in your voice when you’re singing. Like, you should try to put the same emotion in your voice. It’s a love song. You know, you’re really in love. You really want to kiss this girl. I mean, she’s not just fucking hot, she’s like, your future wife.”

“It is okay if I picture a boy rather than a girl?” Harry asked, smirking.

“Why am I not surprised? Louis, you knew about this?” Steve shouted, pointing at Harry and feigning complete and utter shock.

“Of course I did you moron. Harry and me, we go way  back. Like, the full three weeks.” Louis winked. Harry smiled. Louis was so funny.

“Anyway, Styles, you just picture the man of your dreams, yeah? You are in, all in, and you’re not entirely sure if that hot man of yours feels the same. But you are sure. So sure, like, you want to wake up next to this guy for the rest of your life. And that’s why it’s called ‘Next to You’. Got it?”

“Got it.” Harry nodded. Those were emotions he could deal with. Those were emotions he knew. Maybe a little too well, but Steve didn’t need to know about that.

“Don’t forget, it’s personal. Make it sound personal. You’re in this limbo in between being friends and being a couple. That just sucks, you know?”

“Oh, trust me, I do.” _Ooh, the irony_.

“You do? Excellent bro! Use that emotion, that raw emotion, pure doubt, insecurity, but so much love, and put that in your voice.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Harry said. Because indeed, he knew the type of emotion Steve was referring to, but he wasn’t quite sure if he would be able to insert it into his voice.

“It is easy. Don’t overthink it. Just chill.”

“Chill.” Harry repeated. What else was there to say, really? That he wouldn’t be able to chill? That he all of the sudden felt absolutely vulnerable, because he was going to sing about how he was feeling right now, at this exact moment, while they were standing there? Because Louis might notice? Or because he was going to sing in a recording studio, all alone, and Louis would be able to hear him? They had sung together at home, just for fun, but that wasn’t the same, not even close.  
He also felt a bit unsure whether he was actually contractually allowed to sing for other people outside of the band. But he would deal with that later. He was sure Jeff wouldn’t mind, and neither would Niall and Liam. Quite the contrary, Niall would probably be jealous as hell, and Liam overly enthusiastic.

“Now, as I said, I had a baritone voice in mind for the verses, but feel free to make your own interpretation. Can you pull of a falsetto voice as well?

“I do.” Harry proudly confirmed. He may have been feeling insecure, but Harry’s falsetto was one thing he could count on.

“Arrogance Styles!” Louis’ voice came out of the boxes, and he was sitting there looking all smug behind the instruments in the studio.

“Ignore him.” Steve said. “I had a falsetto in mind for the bridge, and for the ‘every day’ part in the chorus as well. Feel free to experiment a bit. I’ll play you the music a few times and give you my interpretation. Then I’ll let you sing the song a couple of times and we’ll take it from there. How does that sound?”

“Pur-fect.” Harry said, and immediately regretted it. That word should be used with his One Direction band members only, but it rolled of his tongue so easily. Oops. He could see Louis rolling his eyes.

“I’m just going to ignore that and join Louis in the control room.” Steve said, and he left Harry alone in the booth. The music started playing, and he could hear Steve’s voice, basically reading the lyrics along with the melody. Obviously, he wasn’t the world’s best singer. Harry took the lyrics and read along with Steve’s words:

\---------------------------------

Next to you

Verse 1:

I didn’t see it coming

You just walked right in out of the blue

I really had no chance, didn’t stand a chance

Because baby, every second I think about you

 

Verse 2:

I didn’t expect this at all

Cooking, laughing, singing with you

I really had no chance, didn’t stand a chance

Because baby, every second I think about you

 

Chorus:

_Ayo, fuck this. What’s this we’ve got?_

_I want to date you. I want to kiss you._

_I want to fuck you. I want to hold you._

_Most of all, I want to wake up next to you._

_Every day. Every day._

_Wake up next to you, every day._

Verse 3:

You impressed my family

You helped me with every single issue

I really had no chance, didn’t stand a chance

Because baby, every second I think about you

 

Chorus x 2

 

Bridge:

Your room and mine are so close

Why aren’t we?

I hear you, you hear me, so close

Why don’t we?

 

Chorus

\--------------------------------------------

 

When Steve finished reading, Harry was giggling.

“What’s up man?”

“I’ve never ever used the word ‘fucking’ in a song before. You know, we’re not allowed to use that word in One Direction songs.”

“Are you for real?” Steve gave him a shocked look. Louis had different look upon his face, but Harry couldn’t read him right, couldn’t deal with him right now so he focussed on Steve instead.

“100%.”

“Dude! That is so over the top! Everybody uses the word ‘fucking’, don’t they?” Steve looked at Louis, searching for confirmation. Louis placed his hands upon Steve’s shoulder and gave him an extremely serious look.

“Well, Steve, don’t forget that you’re in the UK. We’re a bit more sophisticated and classy in comparison to you Americans.”

“Uhu. So the Brits don’t fuck, or what are you saying Tomlinson?”

“Oh, that we do Aoki. That we do.” Louis gave Steve a knowing look.

“We just do it in a sophisticated manner. You know, classy fucking. We hold our pinkies up when we come.” Harry added. Louis burst out laughing, and Harry felt so proud knowing that we was responsible for Louis’ outburst.

“Our jizz tastes like Earl Grey tea.” Louis replied, while he and Harry continued laughing.

“If there’s an orgy, we queue.” Harry offered.

“I’m sure I can think of something with the fact that we drive on the left side… But I just don’t know how to phrase it.” Louis pondered. Harry was still giggling, and he was totally blinded by love right now. The two of them shared such a quirky sense of humour, and he loved every second of it.

“You guys are so weird. A British bunch of perverts.” Steve chuckled. “Now, back on topic. Harry, you heard the song once, willing to give it a go? Time is of the essence here,” he added, more serious now.

“Yup. Let’s do this.”

Harry sang the song at least ten times. Each time, he got some feedback from Steve on certain parts, and Harry altered his version a bit trying to follow Steve’s pointers. Louis didn’t say much, he just kept quiet next to Steve, and seemed to be focussed on the panels the entire time.

“Harry, we’re running out of time here. I’m going to listen to two versions again, but I think we’ve got the material I need. I’m going to do the editing at home, and I might take the chorus from one version, and the verses from another one. That okay?”

“Sure.” Harry was in no position to decline.

“Give me like, a few minutes to listen to this.” Then he turned to Louis, and asked: “Listen as well, alright bro? And, are you guys still taking me to the airport as you promised Tomlinson?”

“Double yes, no worries.” Louis replied.

Right, they were taking Steve to the airport? Louis hadn’t mentioned anything about that. Which basically meant that it would take even longer before Harry could talk to Louis, before he would get some answers. It sucked. Harry sat down in the booth, while he could hear the song and Steve’s and Louis’ discussion about certain parts. He zoned out, focussing on the lyrics as he was still holding the piece of paper.

Steve had emphasised that it was a personal song, and Harry thought it was frightening how similar he felt, how he could relate to Steve’s words. If he could just change the title into ‘Ode to Louis’ it would be a correct representation of how he was feeling right now. He wondered whether Steve wrote this song for a girl back in the States, or if just wrote these lyrics with a certain feeling in mind, without actually feeling that way himself. Liam was a songwriter like that, he could just choose a feeling, and start writing as if he felt that way too. Harry had never been able to do that, he always needed to understand the feelings he wrote about.

“Harry? Harry?” Steve yelled.

“Sorry, my mind was elsewhere,” Harry shrugged. “You guys done discussing it? Is my singing a bit useful, or are you going to search for another voice instead?” Despite Steve’s encouraging words after pretty much every version Harry sang, he was still a bit insecure.

“Bro, don’t be like that. You rocked man! I’m going to mix this at home, and this is going to be a top 10 hit, like, worldwide. Your voice was just what the song needed.”

“Don’t serenade him too much,” Louis replied. “He’s already fairly arrogant, and he doesn’t need to hear more compliments.”

“I do, actually.” Harry said, while exiting the booth. “I’ve never done something like this alone. Usually, I record with the rest of my band, and people I know and fully trust. This was all very new to me.”

“Tst,” Louis snorted. “I see what you’re doing. You’re just playing the victim here Styles. Nobody’s buying that.”

“Mister S and mister T, can you please stop bickering like an old married couple and just take me to the airport? My plane leaves in like, two hours.”

Harry and Louis both snickered. Harry liked the sound of the mister comment, of being addressed as the two of them together. Despite his insecurities, he actually had enjoyed singing for Steve, but right now, he really wanted to talk to Louis. He had so many questions, and he wanted to discuss the wall and everything else, and now he had to wait even longer because apparently Louis had promised Steve to take him to the airport. Steve was putting all of his stuff in his backpack, and Louis got up and placed himself next to Harry.

Harry could feel his presence so close to him, right there, but didn’t know what to do. He wanted to talk. He wanted to kiss. He wanted to do so much. But Steve was right there as well, and they were in a fucking studio for crying out loud, and they were going to the airport in a minute.

Ugh. He hated his life.

Just as Steve was closing his backpack, Louis leaned in a bit closer and whispered into Harry’s ear:

“You know, I wrote that song. I wrote it for you.”

Steve clearly hadn’t heard that, and he had finally gathered all of his belongings and looked up to them: “You ready to go dudes?”

“Born ready!” Louis yelled, as if nothing significant had just happened, and he started walking. Harry was left behind, very, very confused after Louis’ confession, and it wasn’t until Steve asked him to come as well, that his body finally started moving as well. He went all pliant, just following the other two boys without really understanding what was happening. His brain was repeating Louis’ words all over again, and trying to catch on.

Louis wrote the song. All of those words were meant for Harry. That’s all that he thought about. He couldn’t help but think of the words that Louis had painted on the bottom of his wall as well.

_It’s for me. It’s all for me._

Steve and Louis were chatting happily during the trip towards the airport, and Harry let them enjoy their final minutes together. He sat in the back, smiling creepily like some kind of moron. He couldn’t stop smiling even if he tried, because he was well aware of the fact that they were getting closer and closer to the airport. Closer and closer to Steve leaving, and the two of them finally  being alone. Closer and closer, every minute.

He thought about the lyrics once again, focussing on the bridge:

 

  Your room and mine are so close

  Why aren’t we?

  I hear you, you hear me, so close

  Why don’t we?

 

So that must mean that Louis had been thinking the exact same things while he was in his room. They were so close, could sometimes hear each other, yet nothing had ever happened. Harry had loved the two questions in the song while he was singing it, but now he knew Louis had written them, the two questions were completely different. The questions weren’t finished to begin with. Why aren’t we? Why aren’t we what? Talking? Kissing? Shagging? Dating? Why don’t we? Why don’t we what? Talk? Kiss? Shag? Date? Move in together? Get married?

He might be getting ahead of himself here.

_Hold your horses Styles._

They were getting closer to the airport. Heathrow was only five minutes away now. And then, saying goodbye to Steven, and then, he would have Louis alone.

Harry couldn’t stop himself and he heard himself singing Madonna’s song Hung Up. “Time goes by, so slowly, time goes by, so slowly,…”

 

 

“Steve, it was my pleasure, really! I should be thanking you.” Harry said ten minutes later.

“Thanking me? You’re crazy. Look man, we are so going to make this single happen. I’ll contact your manager personally to deal with this, it’ll be harder for them to decline if they’re talking to me. You know, I am a pretty big deal and all,” he chuckled, “and before you know it, ‘Next to You’ will be in the charts.”

“In the charts? So soon?” Harry asked.

“Give me two months. As soon as I have finished mixing the lyrics to the music, I’ll get it to you, that will only take me a week. Don’t worry bro, this is going to be awesome. Thanks for singing the song.” He hugged Harry one more time, and then he moved on to Louis to say goodbye as well.

Harry walked away, a bit further from the car, to give them their privacy. They had parked in the kiss-and-ride zone, which meant they were allowed to stay there for a mere 15 minutes. Louis and Steve still had some time to say goodbye then, and Harry was glad that he could give the two dear friends some space. He was glad as well about the fact that Steve was leaving. Steve was nice and all, but he was slowly getting desperate for some alone-time with Louis. Just five more minutes, and then that would finally happen. Not that he was counting or something.

In his mind, he was conjuring up the questions he was going to ask Louis:  
1\. What do you mean with the wall? Is it really a love declaration? Or should I see it as a pretty wall, and nothing more?  
2\. Are the lyrics of Steve’s song especially for me, or did you write then with me in mind?  
3\. When did you write them?  
4\. Why did you push me away when I kissed you, because now you’re seriously giving me some ‘I-like-you-vibes’?  
5\. Who’s blondie and what happened there?  
6\. Are you in love with me?  
7\. Can I kiss you?

However, when Steve finally left them a few minutes later, all of the questions seemed to become irrelevant. Louis just stood there, waving at Steve, yelling things like “Text me when you land!” and “Awesome to have you in the UK!”, and Harry didn’t do anything else besides adore him. There was no other way to describe it, he absolutely adored Louis. So, when Louis finally turned around and looked at Harry, his mind blanked and his set of important questions seemed to be erased.

They just stared at each other for about ten seconds, and Harry was lost. He had been waiting for so long that he had to do something, he had to say something. Instead of chickening out this time, or getting distracted, he went for the bold approach:

“Louis. I’m going to kiss you in about ten seconds. You can’t just write a song like that and expect me not to kiss you, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. When I open my eyes again, and you’re still standing here, I’m going to. If you don’t want me to kiss you… Well, if you don’t want me to, I guess then you’re just going to have to stop me.”

“Harry, you’re taking this kiss-and-ride thing way too seriously mate.” Louis chuckled. Harry’s confidence disappeared immediately. If Louis started making jokes now, that must mean that he didn’t feel the same way. Yet, he was still feeling bold, so he continued.

“Louis, I’ll close my eyes and I’ll count to 10. That’s the deal. You stay, we kiss. You leave, we don’t.”

Harry closed his eyes, and slowly started counting. In his mind, the ten seconds seemed to last an eternity. He could hear people walking by, he could hear cars driving, he could hear people talking, he could hear trollies rolling. He couldn’t hear though whether Louis had walked away or not. When he opened his eyes, Louis was gone.

Harry looked around. Louis was nowhere to be seen.

A kiss-and-ride zone at the airport is a busy place. People are constantly walking by, and car are coming and going. Lots of people. Harry squinted, but could not find Louis. He checked everyone in the vicinity, but Louis was gone. It seemed as if he had disappeared in those ten seconds.

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, and stood face to face with a grinning Louis. He had hidden himself behind Harry, just to mess with him.

“Ten seconds are up Styles. How about that kiss now?” Louis said, his expression all smug. Harry felt his smile reappearing, and the two boys just stood there for a while, looking at each other, grinning broadly.

Then Harry kissed him.

Louis kissed him back.

There they were, at the crowded kiss-and-ride zone, and Harry was kissing Louis and Louis was kissing him back. Harry didn’t care if people saw and took pictures. The only thing he cared about was Louis, and feeling the latter’s hands running over his own back.

There was no hesitation whatsoever, and they just went all in. Harry felt Louis’ tongue enter his mouth, and he caressed it with his own. He used his hands to feel Louis’ neck, and to touch his hair. It felt divine to be touching Louis. Breathing was getting harder, but he didn’t want to stop kissing just to get some air.

Then Louis’ tongue disappeared, and he softly moaned “Mmmm.” Harry felt dizzy, and wanted to kiss him some more. So he did. He placed his hands on Louis’ cheeks and swiftly kissed his lips, his nose, his lips again, first the upper lip, and then the lower lip.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and stared into Louis’. Both of them had stopped kissing, and Harry tried his absolute best to hide his smile, but he didn’t succeed. Neither did Louis though.

“Finally.” Harry said. “I’ve been waiting for quite a while to do this.”

“You’re such a good kisser.” Louis said.

“So are you.” Harry replied.

“Let’s kiss some more then.” Louis shrugged, as if he wasn’t affected at all. This time he took charge and kissed Harry. Louis’ hands came up to Harry’s face now, and Harry’s hands slowly dropped and took their time to feel his entire back. It seemed as if both their hands were on an expedition, to get acquainted with each other’s bodies, and they wanted to feel as much as possible.

Louis tasted so good, and Harry loved how he could still taste the tea Louis had been drinking in the studio. Over the last three weeks he had gotten used to Louis’ natural scent, but now he could actually smell him from so close, and it was absolutely heavenly.

Their tongues were still dancing, still caressing, and Harry loved kissing Louis. They were full on snogging now, and to Harry it had never felt better than this. He wanted to continue so badly, but his mind slowly started protesting. Yes, kissing was awesome. However, he still had some questions for Louis. And so he finally surrendered and took a step back, and he immediately felt Louis’s hands protesting, trying to get him closer again.

“We weren’t done yet. Styles, don’t do this to me.” Louis said, slowly opening his eyes. He placed his arms upon Harry’s shoulders and held him in a close hug. Harry’s hands were laying still on Louis’ lower back. Their faces were still super close, their noses almost touching. It felt so good.

“You wrote me song.” Harry stated.

“Aah, there’s the arrogance again. I know I shouldn’t have said that.”

“The arrogance? I’m just repeating what you told me.” Harry said, acting innocent.

“You know, I’ve got a little confession to make. I always complain about your arrogance, right? Actually, I‘ve always thought arrogance is sexy. It’s hot.” Louis kissed Harry’s upper lip.

“Oh God. You’re going to be the death of me Tomlinson.” Harry kissed Louis’ bottom lip.

“Likewise.” Louis kissed Harry’s cheek.

This was so much fun. The kissing alone was incredible, but the cheekiness in their conversation made it even more fun. Hilariousness while kissing, it doesn’t get much better than that.

“Oh Louis.” Harry let go and took another step back. To anyone walking by it may have looked fairly easy, taking a step back from Louis, but it was one of the hardest things he had ever done. “I really, totally, completely, absolutely, love kissing you. But I’ve got so many questions. And we’re standing next to the car at Heathrow. Can we please go home and talk?”

“We kiss for five minutes and you want to go home to talk?” Louis asked him. He frowned. “I actually thought the kisses were pretty hot. Not talking material, but shagging material.”

Louis winked.

Harry’s mind went blank again. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say, how to reply to Louis’ suggestion. He wanted to talk, most definitely. But the shagging part sounded pretty interesting as well.

_What to do with Louis Tomlinson?_

Louis hugged Harry again, and whispered: “I’m just kidding love. We’ve got a lot to talk about, I know I’ve got some explaining to do. Let’s go, yeah?” He let go of Harry, and just took his hand. Harry followed, and the two of them jumped in the car and drove home.

It was a soothing drive, where both of them seemed to have accepted that they were in this together. Harry held Louis’ hand whenever he could, and occasionally Louis would lean over and kiss his cheek. They discussed Steve’s attitude towards music, commented upon the winners and losers at the Brit Awards, and then nagged about the traffic in London. They both stayed away from more important topics like feelings or confessions. It was clear that those topics would have to wait until they were home.

They were on the road again, postponing their talk again, but this time Harry didn’t mind. Louis had kissed him back.


	13. Pineapple Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Harry and Louis kissed at the airport. Yay!  
> Now they're driving home, to talk. Like, really talk. Harry has so many questions for Louis. This time, he wants answers.  
> But they're both so nervous....  
> How to calm down?

As they were approaching Harry’s house, silence filled the car. Silence, as in nervousness. It wasn’t as if they had no more topics to discuss, but both of them obviously didn’t feel like it. Whenever they said something, the other one would merely reply with a hum. The silence made Harry agitated. All they had done so far, was some kissing. But now, he wanted to talk. He wanted some answers, and the closer they got to his house, the more nervous he became. What if Louis would still reject him? What if blondie still played some important role in Louis’ life? What if…?

He was getting more nervous every minute, and he could tell Louis was as well, since he was fidgeting as if his life depended on it. He wished he had some magic words to calm both of them down, but nothing came to mind. So, Harry thought addressing the elephant in the room would be the best tactic instead of those magic words. Getting edgier than this surely was not an option.

“Why are we getting so nervous?” Harry questioned.

“Oh God.” Louis smiled flustered. “I have no idea! We just snogged a bit, and it was awesome, and I don’t know why I’m getting shakier by the minute.”

“Me neither.” Harry took Louis’ hand and slowly circled it, trying to soothe him.

“See, that’s a lovely gesture and all, but I can feel your fingers shaking while you’re doing it. So, it’s not going to calm me down. Nice try though.” Louis added, and Harry merely shrugged and continued anyway.

“I need a drink. No, I need answers first. I need answers and a drink.” Harry concluded.

“Uhm, the drinking part is supposed to be my line Harry. You know I don’t do well with discussing feelings and all that crap.”

“Feelings aren’t crap. Well, at least my feelings aren’t.”

“Jeez Styles, relax. I’m not implying your feelings are crap. Not at all.”

“Why thank you, such a gentleman!” Harry smirked.

“See, your snogging implied you seem to like me a bit. So, I’m highly appreciative of your feelings at the moment.” Louis firmly patted Harry’s thighs when he said it, and then kept his hand there. On his thighs. For some strange reason Harry slightly got aroused.

_Not right now._

Louis continued to slowly stroke his thigh, and continued: “Maybe this will calm you down?” His hand crept higher, and Harry tried to keep his head straight.

“Uhu.” He decided to enjoy the moment and closed his eyes, sighing to Louis’ movements. The nerves were indeed disappearing quite quickly. He was a sad and pathetic person, really. Another boy was stroking his thighs, and he became as pliant as a baby rabbit. Pathetic.

“My God, superstar, you are too easy.” Louis chuckled.

“Yeah yeah, it’s been a while since anyone has touched me.” Harry placed his hand upon Louis’, to make him stop moving. He parked the car, and looked Louis in the eye: “Just so you know, I don’t like you a bit. I like you a lot.” Harry said, now his thoughts were still coherent.

“That is good to know.” Louis only said as they got out of the car. The uncomfortable silence returned as they walked to the door, and Harry took his time opening it. Both of them took of their coats, and walked into the kitchen. Louis started eating some cereal straight out of the box, and Harry poured himself a drink.

Silence.

He took another sip, and the only thing he heard was the crunching of Louis’ cereal.

Louis didn’t seem to be in a hurry.

_Why was this so weird?_

Half an hour ago, they were kissing. Both of them, enthusiastically. Everything had seemed to be absolutely wonderful.

Twenty minutes ago, they had been driving. Louis had given him a few pecks on the cheek, and Harry had held his hand whenever possible. Everything had seemed more than okay.

Ten minutes ago, they had addresses their nerves, and that had led to jokes in the car, and some extra touches from Louis to calm him down. Everything had seemed okay.

Three minutes ago he had confessed to Louis that he liked him a lot, and his only reply had been that it was good to know. Everything was no longer okay.

Now, the two of them were together in the kitchen, both doing their own thing, clearly avoiding each other. Or avoiding talking about it. Nothing was okay anymore. He didn’t understand how the atmosphere could have changed so abruptly in just a few minutes.

Again, it was Harry who took the initiative to talk.

“Louis? What’s going on here? Why is so everything so weird all of the sudden?”

“Patience Harry. I believe I have used that line once before,” he said, putting another spoon of cereal into his mouth.

Harry nodded, and started singing: “Just have a little patience, I’m still hurting from a love I lost.”

“Not that part anymore. Continue singing, and you’ll know what to do. It’s a bit of challenge for you Harry.” Louis said, finally looking up at Harry. He offered him a small smile, and Harry was completely endeared.

“Challenge accepted,” he said droopily.

That was the thing right there. Harry might be a bit annoyed, but as soon as Louis gave him a smile, he melted into a puddle of Louis-goo. He was so completely head over heels, that the pure sight of a smiling Louis was enough to make him forget all of his concerns and questions. That right there, that’s what being in love feels like.

So Harry continued singing as Louis had told him to do, in his head. And then he got the lines that he hoped Louis was referring to. He sang those out loud: “Just hold me close, inside your arms tonight. Don’t be too hard on my emotions.”

Louis’ smile grew, and he nodded. Harry closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, and he took Louis in his arms. “I’d love to hold you close tonight. You can stay inside my arms forever,” he mumbled. 

_So cheesy. So heavenly._

They stood there for a while like that: two boys singing along to the Take That song, slowly dancing, and more importantly, holding each other tight. Harry still had so many questions in his head, but again, this was not the time. He just cherished the fact that he was cuddling Louis.

He felt Louis making his embrace more powerful, hugging him tighter. Slowly, Louis brought his hands up to Harry’s head, and he started playing with his hair. Harry closed his eyes, and purred like a kitten.

“Harry.” Louis whispered, and Harry opened his eyes to look him in the eye. “Please kiss me.”

“Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight,” Harry started singing quietly, and Louis started laughing.

“Way to ruin the mood Styles.” However, since he still was holding Harry tight, he thought the mood was far from ruined. Especially since Louis started singing the same lines again, and Harry joined him. They were such an awesome match. Seriously. Who sings together before kissing?

_Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, that’s who._

“Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight. Lead me out of the moonlit floor, lift your open hand. Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance. Silvermoon’s sparkling, so kiss me,” they silently sang together. They ended by letting go of one another, still standing close. They were face to face, looking into each other’s eyes, and they both looked extremely pleased. With each other, and with themselves.

This time, Louis took the initiative. He slowly kissed Harry’s upper lip, and  Harry immediately responded by kissing Louis’ bottom lip. He was so happy that look had initiated this kiss. For a second their lips moved slowly. Then their mouths opened, and the kiss quickly changed into a fast-paced snogging sessions. The passion was obvious, and their hands started roaming each other’s bodies a whole lot faster than when they were kissing at the airport. It was hot. So hot.

“Mmm.” Louis moaned, continuing to kiss him.

_More more more._

Harry felt as if he was flying. Kissing Louis was so marvellous, and the fact that Louis sometimes moaned appreciatively, made it even better. It sounded heavenly, and Harry savoured each and every moan, and wished he could record that sound to listen to it every night. Harry had snogged lots of people before, younger and older, boys and girls, models and rock stars,  but no one even came close to Louis. The feeling of kissing Louis could only be described as perfection, and he didn’t want to stop.

“Bonus points for your snogging skills Styles,” Louis murmured.

Louis lowered his hands and started fondling Harry’s arse, and suddenly the atmosphere changed again. They went from fairly romantic kissing to a heated make out session with the snap of a finger. Harry’s arousal from the car was back in an instant, and he wanted to do so much more than just snog Louis. He tilted his head back. Louis took the hint, and greedily started sucking his neck and earlobes.

“Oh God.” Harry sighed, and Louis moaned again while sucking. He could feel himself getting hard, and they were still standing in the kitchen. He felt courageous, and placed his hands upon Louis’ trousers to check whether he was as aroused as Harry.

“Mmmm,” Louis moaned again, as Harry confirmed he was hard as well. So hard. For him. Harry felt a bit dizzy, and extremely turned-on.

“Bed?” Harry tried desperately.

“Blowjob?” Louis replied cheekily, and then he dropped onto his knees and started working on Harry’s trousers.

“What? You don’t have to…” Harry started.

“I want to.” Louis cut him off. “Just let me.”

“But, I want to talk…” Harry tried, but Louis cut him off.

“Harry, you just enjoy. I’m going to give you the best blowjob of your life.”

Harry’s body wasn’t able to do anything else besides nod, and thank the lord for deciding to let Louis Tomlinson live in the same timespan as he did.

Louis was working on Harry’s buttons now. This had to be the most beautiful sight Harry had ever witnessed in his life. And that meant something. He played stadiums and arenas all over the world, he stood on top of the Eifel Tower, climbed to Machu Picchu, visited Christ the Redeemer, but nothing had ever been this beautiful as seeing Louis kneeling in front of him and taking his cock into his mouth.

_Heaven. This is heaven._

“Oh God, I…” Harry wanted to compliment Louis’ on his beauty, and on his cocksucking skills as well, but speaking had become hard all of the sudden. Syllables, words, sentences, these things were a tad too difficult when one is enjoying a blowjob by Louis Tomlinson. The only thing he could do was enjoy every second of feeling Louis playing with his balls, of Louis holding his shaft, of feeling Louis’ mouth on him, of feeling Louis’ tongue on him,

“So. Good.” Harry emphasized, while gently holding Louis’ head, as it bobbed back and forth. Harry’s knees hardly gave out, that’s how magnificent it felt. Louis’ prediction had come true, because Harry had indeed never gotten a better blowjob.

“Fuck, Louis… I’m close.” Harry moaned and had difficulty to keep standing. He held on to the counter. Louis appeared to be encouraged by Harry’s words, and he easily picked up the pace. “God… So good.” Within a minute Harry came, sighing Louis’ name, moaning, and breathing heavily.

“Louis… Fuck,” he whimpered. The only thing he was capable of.

While he stood there, recovering from his orgasm, Louis slowly started kissing his neck, whispering: “You were beautiful love. It’s a wonderful sight to see you enjoy yourself like that.”

Harry beamed, and grabbed Louis’ cheeks again, and kissed him. Fiercely, almost as if he were trying to thank him for the blowjob. He tasted himself, and he loved how both he and Louis didn’t seem to mind that one bit. Dirtiness on the kitchen counter. Niall would be so proud.

“Your turn now baby.” He sank onto his own knees to return the favour, and it seemed that sucking off Harry had turned Louis on as well. In about two minutes the job was done, and Louis came with a beautiful sound of moans, and Harry revelled in watching him hit his orgasm. He was simply intoxicating.

“Thanks love,” Louis murmured, and he sat down as well, and they started kissing once more. A bit slower this time, both being able to taste each other, and both obviously content after their highs.

Harry pulled away, took in the sight of the two of them, and grinned.

Louis looked confused for a bit, and then he burst out laughing. “Look at us, two dirty bastard, sitting half naked in the kitchen on a Thursday evening!”

Harry replied the only way he considered possible, and he used his low voice to imitate Beyoncé, singing: “We woke up I the kitchen saying, ‘how the hell did this shit happen?’”

Louis looked affronted, and pinched him in the shoulder. “Harry, you’re a great singer, and apparently you’re great at blowjobs as well, but you can’t pull of Beyoncé. That’s where I draw the line,” he snickered.

Harry pouted, and Louis kissed him again, lightly on the lips this time. “Let’s clean up, get a drink, order some takeaway, and crawl in the couch, yeah?” Harry nodded. Both of them got up, and started fixing their trousers.

“Can we talk a bit then?” Harry questioned, giving Louis his most innocent look.

“You’re relentless, you know that? Talk talk talk. You’re like a 85-year-old granny. I try to distract you with a blowjob, and you still start about talking.”

“Well, it’s not as if you have answered any of my questions.” Harry offered, still pouting.

“Remember these wise words Harry: ‘Talk is cheap’. Actions matter. I’ve just given you a blowjob. Doesn’t that particular sexual action speak louder than words? You think I take just anybody’s cock in my mouth?” Louis asked, although he was clearly joking. He was overacting, feigning as if he were shocked. However, his gigantic grin gave him away.

“Well, your moaning was definitely louder than words.” Harry chuckled. It was so weird. He should be mad that Louis was again trying to steer the conversation away from discussing the real important stuff, but he thought his little acting performance was hilarious.

“Yeah, I tend to do that. Sorry.” Louis shrugged.

“God no. It was so hot.”

“Right.” Louis blushed. “We should definitely stop discussing this, or I’ll bend you over on this kitchen counter and fuck you right now.”

“Fine by me.” Harry murmured. It really would be fine. Like, so fine. Super fine.

“Styles, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m hungry. Remember what I told you about that?” Louis frowned.

“Ah, yes. Louis cannot be held responsible for Hangry Louis’ actions. I’ll order us some pizza. No pineapple, right?”

Louis simply took his shoe, and hit Harry in the shoulder. “How very dare you? It’s an absolute crime to put pineapple upon a pizza.”

Harry smiled again, and he was once again reminded of why he was so in love with Louis. These types of conversations. He simply loved every second he spent with Louis. Blowjobs and kissing were absolutely great, but this constant teasing and joking was equally great. Well, almost as great. The orgasm and seeing Louis on his knees had been a new highlight.

 

 

Half an hour and two showers later, both boys were seated in the living room with a large pizza on the table. Louis had insisted on paying for the pizza, and Harry had insisted as well, since he now had a single with Steve Aoki thanks to Louis.

“Well, you got me there.” Louis said, and happily let Harry pay.

Harry was so ready to talk. During his shower, without Louis, he had cleared his head. The water falling down on him had given him time to focus, and he had enumerated his own set of questions again. This time, he wouldn’t be distracted by recording sessions, or kissing, or blowjobs. This time, Harry wanted some answers.

“Why did you push me away when I kissed you at your house?” Harry asked, while Louis was still on his first slice of pizza.

“Wow. Why beat around the bush, eh?” Louis asked. “Let me finish this piece first, alright?”

“Sure.” Harry agreed, and he saw Louis taking his time, chewing slowly. He chuckled, because getting mad wouldn’t help. He had no answers just yet, but the past hours had proven that Louis liked him at least a bit, and so he wasn’t annoyed that Louis was deliberately stalling, but he was endeared. Louis really didn’t like discussing feelings, and Harry thought this was charming. That’s how awesome they were together. That’s what a good match they are.

“I’ll talk then. So, last week I kissed you, because you seemed nervous. You were talking super-fast, and you were clearly feeling out of place. You had an awful day that day, in the hospital with your family, being reminded of your mum, and I just wanted to hold you, to comfort you, to make you feel better. So I kissed you. I thought we had great chemistry that day you know, and I just… I didn’t understand why you reacted that way. You kissed me back for about five seconds, and that was superb, and then you just pushed me away and walked out. You left me there, all alone. What was that about?”

“You know, for a bright man, you can be pretty daft sometimes.” Louis said. He took another bite of pizza, and Harry knew what that meant. Another thirty seconds of waiting for Louis to finish.

_Longest thirty seconds ever…_

“Harry, where were we when that happened?” Louis asked as if he were talking to a toddler.

“In your house.”

“Be more specific.”

“In the guest bedroom.”

“Nope. Think again.”

Harry took a moment, and visualized the room he had slept in. It was filled with pictures, and a huge old closet. The blankets upon the bed were clearly old, washed off, with flowers. There was a chair next to the bed with a pile of clothes.

“It was your mum’s room,” he tried again.

“Bingo.” Louis said, and he took another bite of pizza.

“I slept in your mum’s room.” Harry repeated the words ever so slowly, to let the words sink in. Louis was still chewing, and Harry waited for him to finish.

“It was my mum and Dan’s room indeed. But for me, it had mostly been my mum’s room all my life. When she got sick, she stayed in the hospital. But when it became clear that she was dying, she asked the doctors to go home. She didn’t want to die in an unknown bed, in a strange room. So we took her room, and kept her in her own bed, in her own room. We spent three more days with her at home, and then she died. In that bed. In that room. I was holding my mum’s hand the entire time during her last hours, and I could slowly feel her disappearing on me. I was holding her hand when she took her last breath. I still remember feeling that, feeling her hand going soft.”

“Oh Louis. I’m so sorry.” Harry offered, but didn’t say more because he felt Louis wasn’t done talking.

“It was the room, you know? That’s why I was so nervous. I hadn’t entered that room since she died. For me, it will always be the room where my mum died. I couldn’t just kiss you there. Like, I didn’t want our first kiss to happen in that room. That’s my mum’s room. Forever.” Louis paused, and just stared at Harry for a second. The latter’s heart was filling up with so much love he thought it would surely explode.

Louis breathed for a second, and continued: “You know, it’s not as if that room is all bad. I have good memories there too. And, I’m actually kind of relieved that she died there, and that we were there to hold her. During the last hours, she talked to all of us, and she told me she was so proud of me. That I was her oldest, that I was a bit special. I got to tell my mum that I loved her so much, just hours before she died. That’s just wonderful, you know? How many people get to do that? How many people can die peacefully like that? I mean, she knew she wasn’t alone. She knew that we were, like, all there, just for her. Just as she had always been there for us. Even in death. That’s why I pushed you away. It couldn’t happen there. There’s just no way we were going to kiss in there. No way.”

Harry nodded. “I get it. That’s her room. Your mum’s room. For memories you have of her.”

“Yeah, that’s it. And when you kissed me, you surprised me. Like, you know, I fancied you and all, and I got that we clicked, but I never would have predicted that you were going to kiss me then. Of all the moments you could have chosen, you silly boy. So of course I kiss you back. I wanted you to kiss me so desperately. But, after a few seconds I remembered where I was. Mum’s room. Hence the pushing.”

“Oh God. I feel so foolish now. Like, kissing you while you were so nervous? I shouldn’t have done that… I should have said something, or asked something.” Harry said, more to himself than to Louis.

“Yeah, sorry about the pushing by the way.”

“Don’t apologize for that. Sorry about the kissing.”

“Don’t apologize for _that_. I went back to my room that night and it was pretty much all I could think about. Worst night ever. Thanks for that by the way.” Louis smirked.

Louis was smiling again, and Harry felt courageous enough to go a step further.

“Yeah, so, you just said you fancied me?”

“Oh God, that’s what you get from the entire explanation? I pour my heart out here, and that’s what you remember. Shame on you Styles. I’m seriously considering taking my shoe again, but right now I can’t be bothered to get up. This couch is too comfy.”

They had been discussing one of the worst and most special moments of Louis’ life, and a minute later both of them were smiling again, and the conversation had taken an unexpected turn again. Louis was just so unpredictable. So much fun. So intriguing.

Louis put his hands into the air. “Guilty. I admit that I fancy you. Now sue me. So do thousands of teenage girls.”

“That’s quite alright. I fancy you as well.” Harry giggled. “Fuck those teenage girls. I just want you.”

“Oh dear. Don’t let anyone hear you say that out loud mister. You might lose your job!”

“If that gets me you, I couldn’t care less.”

“Sap.”

“Sappy McSapson.” Harry replied.

“Sappy what now?” Louis asked, with an extremely funny questioning face.

“Yeah, it’s something that my sister said. I told her you’d turned me into a sap, and she called me Sappy McSapson.”

“I like the sound of that. Your sister sounds cool.”

“She is. She’s just brilliant. You’ll love her.”

“Steady there Styles. One blowjob doesn’t mean meeting the family, does it now?”

“Tomlinson, I’ve met your family already, so I think it does.”

“What did I tell you about calling me by my last name? You’re just not cool enough to get away with that. Don’t.”

As much as Harry was enjoying himself, he felt time to leave the banter behind and move on to another serious question he had. He wondered about the blonde guy, but decided for another question that had been haunting him since Louis’ confession earlier that afternoon.

“So tell me about Steve’s song.”

 “I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that. Congratulations, it took you,” Louis paused to check his watch, “more than four hours to bring that up. I’m actually pretty impressed.”

“Uhm, thank you, I guess?”

“Your face though, when I told you. Absolutely worth it. I mean, you just totally blanked out on us.” Louis chuckled.

“Can you blame me?” Harry asked.

“Not really, no. But it was extremely entertaining. You know, the entire car ride to the airport, Steve and I pretty much gossiped about you, and you didn’t even notice. It was as if you were on another planet. Hilarious, that’s what it was.”

“You did? What did you guys say about me?”

“Well, first of all that you weren’t listening. At one point, Steve literally said: ‘I don’t think young Harry is getting a word of what we’re saying,’ and then both of us turned around to look at you, and you didn’t even acknowledge us. It was like as if we were’nt even there, you were just grinning, in a creepy way. Steve thought it was brilliant, and then we really started gossiping about you to see whether you would interrupt, but you didn’t. You just kept your mouth shut until we stepped out of the car, and you had this weird smile upon your face the entire ride.”

Harry smiled, because that actually made a lot of sense.

“Yeah, I was just counting the minutes until I would have you alone.”

“Ladies and gentleman, and so Sappy McSapson returns!” Louis exclaimed, as if he were the voice of an action-packed thriller.

“But, you’re still not telling me about the song.”

Louis checked his watch again: “Four hours and five minutes,” he smiled.

“Tell me. Or I’ll take the last part of the pizza.”

“Oooh, now I’m scared,” Louis overacted again, and then he took another slice of pizza himself. “Sorry Styles, you’ll just have to wait until I finish this.” Louis took another bite, and managed to both smile, shrug, and chew at the same time.

Harry crawled over to him. “See, that means I’ve got another minute before you’re going to start talking again, and I’m going to use that time to kiss your neck.” And he did.

“I’m trying to eat here!” Louis yelled, but he didn’t really seem to mind, and Harry kept on kissing him. He was allowed now, so he might as well take advantage of the situation.

“Done.” Louis said a bit later, and Harry crawled back to his own spot in the couch.

“So, remember that night we talked about some major issues, and we played I Never?”

“Ah yes, the glorious night you told me I wasn’t your type.” Harry sighed. He remembered that particular night vividly.

“Yeah, I was totally lying. Duh. You’re my type so much that it scares me a bit.”

“Then why would you say something like that?”

“I said it so you wouldn’t see that I was basically drooling all over you. You know, self-preservation and all that.”

“Just for the record, you are totally my type. Cheeky, sexy as hell, hilarious, and a good conversationalist. You checked all of the boxed.” Harry confessed.

“Dito. Anyway, so, that night. The days before that I was fleeing over to Nick’s to kind of avoid spending time with you, because I was afraid that I might fall in love with you so easily, that it was better not to spend time with you at all. And, the lyrics quiz that Nick and I created was actually a lot of fun, so it really wasn’t a big sacrifice to make, trust me. But that night, as we talked, as we ate the cookies, as we sang, as we … As we had fun, it became clear to me that I was super-duper head over in heels in love with you. When we went to bed, I was too wired to sleep, still too excited about the brilliant time we’d spent together. So I started writing.”

“You wrote that song while I was tossing and turning in my bed, wondering if I should come over to your room? Oh God. Timing. We officially suck at communicating.” Harry couldn’t suppress a smile. They had been idiots, both of them.

“You were awake as well? Jezus Styles, do you know how many blowjobs we’ve both missed out on?”

Both of them went silent for a second, and they just stared into each other’s eyes.

“Talk about missed chances.”

“I hear you.”

“Anyway, so I wrote the lyrics then, and I mailed them to Steve. See if he could use them, if they matched any of the songs he was composing.”

“Did he know the story behind the lyrics?”

“Not at first, no. Pfff, how do I explain this? You see, first, I have to connect some dots for you, You know bits of certain stories, but you don’t know the full story.”

“I’m all ears love. Talk to me.”

“Yeah, I thought that might be the case. You just love it when I talk, don’t you?” Louis quirked an eyebrow, and Harry winked. “So, remember that I told you about my previous serious relationship, how it turned into an abusive one?”

“I do.”

“Remember how I met Steve in Ibiza on my birthday trip?”

“I do.”

“Well, those two are actually linked. That same night, I met a guy that I fell in love with. It took me a while to convince him to date me, and then we were together for about three years. I ended things, because he had become verbally abusive, and we weren’t equals in the relationship. One of the people who made me realize this, was Steve. Because my ex is one of Steve’s friends, he’s part of his entourage. That’s how I met him that night in Ibiza. Steve and Jack are still close mates today, but Steve always told me that Jack wasn’t good enough for me, that he took me for granted. Steve was the one who made me understand that it wasn’t a healthy relationship. Basically that’s the reason why we’re still such close friends, you know.”

“So, your ex, Jack, is a friend of Steve.”

“Yeah. Steve kept on saying, ‘I love Jack, but I hate to see how he’s treating you,’ and after a while, I saw it too. It just wasn’t okay. Anyway, when I mailed him the lyrics, he replied with a bunch of questions, nosy little bitch he is.” Louis chuckled.

“Steve’s so cool.” Harry offered.

“Du-uh.” Louis smirked. “Anyway, he understood that I couldn’t have written those lyrics without feeling anything of the emotions in the song, so he wanted me to spill the beans.”

“Spill the beans? Who says that?”

“I do Styles. Keep up!” Louis went on. “So then I phoned him, and told him the entire story. Then he saw it as his own little Cupid mission. You know, he always thought it was his fault that I had this bad relationship with Jack,  because we met thanks to him, and he saw this as a way to make it up to me. So he made it his personal goal to meet you on the Brits, and to get you to sing the song.”

“Really?” Harry was surprised that Steve would go through all that trouble, just for Louis. He must really care a lot. Then again, Harry understood. It was hard to know Louis and _not_ care about him.

“Really. Steve Aoki, global successful deejay, shall also be known as Cupid henceforth.” Louis stated officially, putting his two fingers in the air as if he were swearing an oath.

“That’s kind of cute.”

“Cute, and pathetic.” Louis added. He still held up his two fingers.

“A bit maybe,” Harry said, “but it got us here, didn’t it?”

“That it did. Any further questions, your honour?”

“Not right now.” Harry replied, and Louis dropped his fingers. Both of them had finished eating, and they moved closer towards each other in the couch.

“How about some good old-fashioned snogging then?” Louis asked.

“I love me an old-fashioned guy.” Harry replied, just as his mobile starting ringing. He quickly silenced it, and moved closer to Louis. Immediately, his mobile started buzzing this time. He ignored it while he took Louis into his arms, but the buzzing continued. Louis put his arms around Harry’s waist, and then Louis’ mobile started ringing as well.

“Talk about buzzkill.” Louis said, and he took his mobile. “It’s my sister, I’m going to get this. Feel free to answer yours as well.” 

Harry gave Louis his most charming pout, but it didn’t seem the work. He just got a wink in return, and Louis jumped up and left the room. Since Harry’s mobile was indeed buzzing for a fourth time, someone was desperately trying to reach him, and as much as he wanted to follow Louis and kiss him while he was making the call, he wanted to be polite as well. So, he answered.

“Harry, Jeff here.”

“Hi Jeff. Everything alright?”

“Yes, peachy. You too I assume?”

“Very peachy indeed. What’s up?”

“Well, I know that you’re doing okay, because there are pictures of you kissing a guy at the airport about an hour ago. Then you got into your car together, and the two of you drove home. So that’s how I know you’re doing peachy.”

“Oh.” Harry fell silent and pondered the consequences of these pictures.

“Do you want me to do something about them? It’ll be hard to stop them, because they’re online already, but I can try?”

“Well…” Harry started, but Jeff gave him a couple of seconds before he replied.

“If that’s okay with you, I’m not going to interfere with these pictures. You’ve been talking about coming out for quite a while now, so this might be it, you know?”

“Yeah.” Harry agreed.

“You’re sure though?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve wanted this for so long. Maybe this is not the best way how, but it’s out there now. I’m not going to come up with lame excuses.”

“Do you want me to write a press release, or make an official statement or something?

“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

“So, we don’t respond. At all?”

“We don’t.”

“Okay. You do understand that within five minutes, your mobile is going to start ringing, and it won’t stop until somewhere next week? This is a huge deal. Like, an enormous deal! Maybe not for you, but it will be for the rest of the world. Journalists, fans, and pretty much everybody will go crazy over this.”

“Yeah, I noticed that when I posted that picture of Louis three weeks ago. You know, I’ll just tweet or Instagram something else within a couple of days. Right now, I just found out that the boy I’m in love with likes me back. I’d like to focus upon that.”

“Waw, you sound like a smitten kitten Harry.” Jeff chuckled.

“I’m Sappy McSapson.” Harry joked.

“Sure you are,” Jeff offered, and then his voice changed, and he continued in his serious manager voice: “I’m just going to repeat this one more time, just to be a good manager. So my dear client, you understand that the rest of the world is going to go ballistic, and you are choosing now to ignore all that? Do you understand that there will be negative responses and critique?”

“Yes. I don’t care. Let them deal with it. I’m out. Literally.”

“You know Harry, as a manager I don’t exactly think that’s the wisest approach, but as your friend I do. I am so incredibly proud of you. That’s just an awesome way to deal with this. Let it be.”

“Thanks Jeff. I’m just so happy right now. I cannot be bothered with anything else besides Louis. We just had our first kiss, and you know, that’s like, the only thing that matters to me now.”

“I’m happy for you mate.” Jeff said. “How about lunch in a few days? We’ll discuss it further, and you can introduce me to your guy.”

“Sure. Just as long as I can stay at home with Louis for now, I’m good.” Harry smiled.

“Deal. I’ll keep you posted, okay?”

“Excellent. Thanks so much Jeff.”

“It’s my job. Now I’ll let you get back to your funny business. Bye Harry!”

“Bye Jeff.”

Harry decided to turn off his mobile, so he wouldn’t have to deal with this. Okay, so the pictures were out, and he honestly didn’t care. He had Louis, why would he care? He had discussed this with Liam and Niall, and the both of them had reacted extremely positive towards his idea to come out, and basically they were the only ones that mattered in this case, They were in a band together, and the two of them would be asked about this as well. But they gave him the green light, and so Harry wasn’t worried.

Quite the contrary. He was happy. He was out.

A minute later, Louis entered the living room again. He waved his mobile.

“Well, that was my sister, calling me to ask me why on earth I was kissing Harry Styles at the airport, and why I didn’t tell her we were dating last week.”

“Which one?”

“That’s your question?” Louis snorted, “There are pictures online for the whole world to see, of you, a closeted mega superstar, kissing a boy, and you wonder which ones of my sisters called me? You need to sort out your priorities boybander.”

“I don’t care. I really don’t care that everybody knows.”

“You don’t? Are you sure?”

“No. You told me you fancied me. That’s the only thing I care about right now. Let the rest of the world go crazy. I’ll just stay in here, and hide with you.” Harry pleaded, and he felt like a proper romantic just saying those words out load.

“What about me then?” Louis asked, a bit annoyed. “How about the fact whether I’m okay with it that there are pictures of me online, kissing Harry Styles?”

Harry hadn’t considered that.

 _Oops_.

He wasn’t in this alone. Louis was in this just as much as he was. And even though he may not be a global superstar, the entire population of planet earth would be able to see him online. Would know him. Would judge him.

“Oh Louis, I’m sorry,” Harry started, “I should have included you in my decision. I’m so so sorry, Oh God, I didn’t even think about your point of view, and the consequences this would have for you. Sorry! I’ll call my manager, and get him to take the pictures down.” He was rambling, and he knew it, but he needed Louis to understand that he would respect whatever he preferred.

Harry took his mobile again, and Louis stole it from him in a heartbeat.

“I’m just messing with you love. I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked.

“So sure. Hell, the entire world know that I’m the lucky guy who’s kissing Harry Styles? I think I can live with that.” Louis started dancing.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked, completely endeared by Louis’ geeky dance moves.

“Dancing. A happy dance superstar.” Louis said, and then he switched to singing: “Cuz I’m happy!”

“Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof,” Harry pitched in as he joined Louis in the happy dancing. The two of them danced for the entire chorus, and before Harry realized it, they were kissing again.

_Such dorks they were. Happy dances and happy kisses._

Louis and Harry both fell down in the couch together, and they continued snogging as if nothing had happened. Their lips knew each other now, and they moved as if they had been kissing for ages. Harry enjoyed Louis’ delicious tasting mouth, his wonderful smell, and last but not least, his mesmerizing moans. However, Louis had distracted him again, he realized, and so he pulled back. Louis grunted disapprovingly, and gave him an annoyed look.

“Which sister called you, Louis?” Harry asked innocently.

“You. Are. Relentless.” Louis said, giving him a kiss in between every word. “Talk. Talk. Talk.”

“Which sister called Louis? I want to know who saw us, and called you!” Harry looked at the ceiling while he asked the question again, doing his utmost to ignore Louis’ kisses. He wanted an answer.

“Jeez Styles, I’m doing some of my best work here, and you’re just talking straight through it.”

“Which sister?”

“Fizzy.”

“Huh.” Harry answered. He was secretly hoping that Lottie might have been the one to call, since that would mean she would have approved of the two of them together, but it had been Fizzy. That was okay as well, surely. But Fizzy already adored him. Lottie was a whole different story. He would get Lottie to warm up to him next time.

“Eloquent. Now shut up, and let the magic happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this was going to be a bit shorter, but then I got carried away, and it was 7000 words before I even realized it.  
> (Obviously, this is still fictional and all. Duh.)


	14. Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, so, they are together, and now it's time for the sexy times Jeff mentioned.  
> As a fancy celeb, Harry is obviously quite experienced, but he has never slept with someone he actually was in love with, so he's feeling pretty nervous about it.  
> Niall might barge in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took me so long, but I had Easter exams and then I went skiing for a week... Good times, and so Harry and Louis had to wait a bit.  
> 

“Eloquent. Now shut up, and let the magic happen.”

With these words, Louis dove right back into some more snogging, and Harry smiled into the kiss, following Louis’ lips happily.

The only sounds that could be heard in the room were their kisses, and the occasional moan Louis tended to make when he paused from caressing Harry’s lips with his own.

Harry got so incredibly turned on by these sounds that he felt a bit ashamed. He could feel himself getting harder every time Louis even whimpered. He was doing his best to control himself, and not to get completely lost in Louis’ kisses. They were just kisses, after all.  

All of the sudden, Louis pulled back. Harry was left trying to kiss the air, and Louis chuckled at the sight of Harry’s air kiss. “Jeez Harry, it’s so easy to turn you on. You don’t need much, do you now?”

“It’s. You’re just, like, so hot.” Harry panted. Forming sentences had become difficult again. He couldn’t really focus, because there was only question going on in his mind. When was Louis going to continue this kissing session? The rest of the world had become redundant, that’s how great snogging Louis was.

“Aaah, the well-known Harry Styles’ eloquence continues.” Louis replied cheekily, as he pulled away. “You’re not too bad yourself. That’s why I suggest we take this snogging fest to your bedroom.” And then, Louis winked. He actually winked. As if it were a normal suggestion.

_My bedroom._

That would mean sex. Like, actual real sex. Sex with Louis. Harry swallowed.

Okay, it’s not as if he had never had sex before. He was a superstar, a sex symbol even, so naturally sex had never been a problem. Whenever they had been touring, there had always been boys and girls who had practically offered themselves to Harry, and whenever he felt he needed it, he had chosen someone to sleep with. Preferably someone fun, and someone private, but there had always been plenty of options. So, Harry had experience. Sex on different continents, with different sexes, with different ages, he had pretty much done it all.

However.

He had never had sex with someone he cared about. He had never had sex with someone he was deeply in love with it. Despite all of the previous experiences, sleeping with someone when there were feelings involved, was new territory for Harry. From that point of view, sleeping with Louis would be a real first.

Today would be the first time he’d have sex with someone he cared about.

That alone was frightening enough, and Harry’s nerves from earlier that day returned, just like that. He wanted sex with Louis to be perfect, and he wanted it to be everything both he and Louis had dreamed of. He also didn’t want to sound like a total sap when he would reveal that notion to Louis.

“My bedroom?” Harry repeated, voice squeaking.  

“Yeah, you know, it’s that large room with that massive bed. It’s like, perfect for fooling around and stuff. Blowjobs, rimjobs, and all that.” Louis gave him a knowing look, and Harry felt himself getting more insecure every second. Nonetheless, Louis sound convincing. _Very_ convincing. Fooling around, and pretty much everything he had described sounded very good to Harry.

But, insecurity.

“Yeah. Like, now?” Harry asked, clearly tensed, and Louis picked up upon his quirky behaviour.

“What’s up love? You don’t like the sound of that?” Louis crawled out of Harry’s lap, and seated himself next to him again.

“I just never.” Harry stopped. How to explain this without sounding like a total loser?

“You’re not a virgin, are you?” Louis asked, looking completely terrified.

“No you idiot. Not at all.” Harry regained some of his confidence. He might be new to this, but a virgin? No no no. “Don’t forget, I am a fairly successful superstar. Fans all over the globe have thrown themselves at me.”

“So you slept with them, but you don’t want to have sex with me? I feel so much better.” Louis said sarcastically.

“You idiot. You know it’s not like that.” Harry chuckled, once again Louis’ dramatic skills had managed to make him smile.

Louis became all serious again, and gave Harry a stern look. “No, seriously love, what’s up?”

“Don’t mock me, alright?” Harry pouted.

“I can’t make any promises, you know that. I mean, if it’s too funny, mocking is kind of obligatory.” Louis shrugged. Harry gave him his most innocent pout, and this seemed to do the trick. “Alright Styles, You’re irresistible. I won’t mock you. Now tell me!”

Harry took a deep breath, and started talking without actually looking at Louis. He still wasn’t quite confident to do that. He took his time, speaking slowly, and considering every word he uttered.

“So, here it is. I’ve never slept with anyone I actually cared about. You know, the other times… I always knew that I wasn’t going to see them again, like, we were on tour and I always made sure they knew it was a one-time thing. And, it didn’t really happen that often. I mean, only when I really needed it. Like, when I was extremely horny. But with you,” he paused, “with you it’s different. You’re still going to be here in the morning I think. I want you to. With all these other one-night-stands in all those different countries, I didn’t care. But with you, I do.”

Harry had been playing with his hands during his entire explanation, and still couldn’t face Louis. He was waiting for Louis to speak up, to reply, to comfort him.

_Say something_.

“Awwww,” Louis cooed, using his sarcastic tone again. “Isn’t that the most adorable thing ever? Harry Styles, millionaire and superstar, has slept with oh so many people all around the world. Yet he wants me, little old Louis Tomlinson, to be his first. His real first, sex with feelings and all that. My heart is melting after your glorious speech.” Louis Tomlinson, world class deadpan.

He’d done it again. Louis had spoken, and with his unpredictable answer he had made Harry smile. Like, bigtime. Harry took a minute to let Louis’ words sink in, and then burst out laughing. He might have meant his speech to be earnest and completely sincere, but as soon as he heard Louis’ reply, he couldn’t take himself seriously anymore either. It may have been a bit strange to mention that he had slept with lots of people. A bit of a funny thing to say. Harry had meant well, but he could have phrased it better.

“You’re such an idiot, you know that?” Harry asked, still grinning at his own stupidity.

“I am? You’re the one telling me that you slept with so many people, and that they threw themselves at you. Weirdo.”

“Yeah, maybe that was a weird thing to say,” he admitted. Indeed, Harry should remember those things for the future: one should not mention their previous sex stories during foreplay. Noted.

“No argument here. Who says that kind of thing before sex?”

“Me, apparently.”

“Yeah. Ruins the mood a bit.”

“You get what I mean though? I mean, it may have come out wrong, but you understand that I was being serious?”

“I do. And, I’d be honoured to be the first one who’s allowed to stay until the morning.” Louis took Harry’s hand, and kissed it as if he were the Queen. “Like, so honoured I’ll even join you for breakfast. If you make me come twice, I’ll even throw in a lunch.”

“You realize you’re doing it again, right?”

“What?”

“I’m trying to discuss something serious here, and you’re taking the piss.” Harry was getting slightly annoyed that Louis wouldn’t address his issue, that he wouldn’t reply Harry’s confession.

“It’s a good thing you’re so sexy. Because all that talking isn’t helping at all. I thought we were going to your room?” Louis asked, ignorant of Harry’s growing annoyance. Harry simply ignored him. He got up, and walked into the kitchen.

This was all so confusing. He was so extremely attracted to Louis. So in love. Aroused immediately. But whenever he tried to discuss something serious with him, Louis changed the subject, or ignored it, or mocked him. Harry didn’t mind it most of the time, but now, for some reason, he did. First, he had joined Louis in laughing, because his revelation had indeed came out wrong. But, when Harry had tried to focus on the message he was trying to convey, Louis still didn’t seem to respond in a normal way. It was so annoying. Five minutes ago, Louis had proposed to go upstairs, and have sex. Now, the silent treatment had returned, and he felt bad. So he made tea, one cup for Louis, and one cup for him.

Louis was still in the sofa when Harry walked back in, carrying the two cups. Louis gratefully accepted his with a big smile, but they didn’t say anything. He just started blowing to cool the tea.

Harry did the same. He didn’t want to speak first this time.

Louis drank his tea.

So did Harry.

He really didn’t want to speak first. But as usual, he caved.

“Why is everything so difficult with us? I mean…” Harry opened.

“Sorry sorry sorry, this one’s completely on me. I’m so sorry. You just revealed something big, something personal, and I just reacted like a moron. This is all me love, I’m so sorry.” Louis pleaded. Harry nodded, and drank some more of his tea. “I know this is going to sound absolutely idiotic, but I got jealous. You started talking about people you’ve had sex with, and I immediately went into this crazy ass jealousy frenzy. Which, is like, totally stupid, because we didn’t know each other when you…” Louis didn’t finish his sentence.

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. “You reacted that way because you were jealous? That’s so cute! Why would you be jealous of people I had one-night-stands with? It usually was no more than a quick shag in a club.”

“Still. They got to touch you love.” Louis shrugged. “And I didn’t.”

“But you will, Louis.” Harry said, using an assuring tone. He really wanted Louis to touch him.

“I know. And I know it makes no sense. But, you were, like, all confident talking about how you slept with lots of people, and I got insecure.”

“Baby.” Harry said. The pet name felt absolutely right. He got up, and crawled onto Louis’ lap. Even though Harry was a lot taller than Louis, it felt wonderful, and they seemed to fit that way. “I slept with those people because there never was anyone special, anyone I was in love with. So yes, lots of people, and yes, lots of experience. But from my point of view, you are the experienced one. Because you have combined sex and emotions in the past. I never did. And that’s why _I_ got insecure. See how good we are for each other? We were both insecure.”

“Oh God.” Louis rolled his eyes, and his smile returned. “The exact same emotion at the exact same time. We are just too perfect for each other. I feel bad for our friends and family. This is going to be annoying as hell for them, having such a perfect couple around.”

“Perfect couple? The last ten minutes just proved that we are anything but a perfect couple. I mean, it was a textbook example of bad communication.”

“The last ten minutes you’re saying? Yeah, but it also took us like a minute to solve it. Which we just did. I mean, we are totally rocking this communication bit.”

“Alright, I surrender,” Harry chuckled. “Move over Liam and Cheryl. We’re the new power couple.” Harry chuckled.

“Yeah. Tomlinson and Styles, in it to win it.”

“Styles and Tomlinson, learn your alphabet.”

“Oh shut up,” Louis chuckled. “Now kiss me you fool.” Harry obliged happily.

Harry loved so many things in life: standing on a stage, performing in front of a wild crowd. Hugs from his mother and sister after a long world tour. Dancing like a complete moron at a party with friends when no one is watching. Eating a freshly baked cinnamon scone. Choosing new fancy shoes, and then putting them on for the first time to take a walk. But right now, he discovered that none of those things felt as good as kissing Louis. If he loved those previous examples, then he loved² kissing Louis.

Louis let out a soft moan, and Harry smiled into the kiss. He loved kissing Louis, and he also loved the sounds that he made.

“Do you know that you moan a lot when we’re kissing?” Harry asked, gently kissing Louis’ neck.

“It’s just because it feels so good. I can’t control it, it just like, feels so good. So I moan, to let you know I’m highly appreciative of your kissing skills.” Louis tilted his head back to give Harry more access, and Harry continued to place kisses on every inch of Louis’ neck.

“Well, I’m highly appreciative of your moaning skills.”

“You’re so weird.” Louis said, taking Harry’s head into his hands, looking him in the eye, and kissing him once more.

At that exact moment, the doorbell rang. Not once, but five times in a row.

“Let’s just ignore it, right?” Louis asked, and continued to kiss Harry. However, whoever was at the door didn’t give up that easily. The doorbell rang relentlessly for another full minute, and then Harry had had enough. It could be Jeff. It could be his mum. It could be Nick. Only his closest friends and family were aware of this address. There were pictures of him kissing a guy online, and as much as he was enjoying himself, this was big news for his closest circle as well. So whoever was at the door, he or she deserved an answer.

“I’m so sorry, I’ve got to go and check who’s there. It could be somebody important. We did turn our phones off, you know.” Harry crawled out of Louis’ lap, and the latter sighed deeply.

“Aargh! How on earth are we ever going to have sex?”

“Patience is a virtue,” Harry sang while he walked out of the room.

“Sex with Louis Tomlinson is a virtue,” he heard Louis mumble in the background, and because of that funny statement he arrived at the front door with a huge smile plastered on his face. He checked the peephole, and saw his blond band member, still ringing the bell. As much as he resented Niall for disturbing them, he was also genuinely pleased to see one of his best friends there. Obviously, the photos of him and Louis were a big deal to the rest of the world, and the fact that Niall was here, showed that he cared. So, despite Niall’s annoying doorbell ringing qualities, he was happy to see him.

“Niall!” Harry exclaimed enthusiastically. “Good to see you!”

“Uhm.” Niall seemed to be lost for words. A rare thing, that was.

“Everything okay?” Harry questioned.

“I should be asking you that question.” Niall replied. “I mean, I’ve been worried sick mate, and now you’re standing here grinning like a girl. I’ve been calling you for like, the last half hour. There are pictures of you online, kissing a guy! Are you okay with that? Did you know about them? What’s going on? Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”

“Lots of questions my friend. Come on in, and I’ll tell you.”

“That’d be good.” Niall said, and he followed Harry inside. He walked into the living room, where Louis was still sitting in the couch.

“You.” Louis said, as he saw Niall enter behind Harry.

“Me?” Niall asked. He took a seat opposite Louis and Harry, who had joined the former in their couch again. Harry already considered it their couch, since they had been kissing there.

“You’re Niall Horan.” Louis remarked, awe in his voice and not taking his eyes of Niall. Harry was a bit confused as to why Louis was acting this way. He seemed to be a bit star struck, which was weird. He lived with Harry, he was close friends with Steve Aoki, and now he was acting all impressed because of Niall? Simple Irish Happy Niall? No way.

“I’m aware of that.” Niall shrugged. “You’re Louis, I remember you from your tv-show appearance with our lovely Harry a few weeks ago.”

“You remember me?” Louis asked, clearly impressed.

“Course I do. It doesn’t happen that often that someone can get Harry to let loose of his public image, and be himself for a while. Even though it was only for about a minute, and it was on national tv. To see him react so rudely towards you, that was, like shocking.”

“Yeah, for me as well. I had only seen the great Mister Styles on tv acting all polite all the fucking time.”

“That’s him alright.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe you remember me. Niall Horan remembers me.”

“Wait a minute. Are you honestly star struck right now?” Harry asked. “Because of Niall?”

“Heeeey!” Niall replied, “Let the guy be Harry. We were talking here. An adult conversation and all that. Interrupting is not cool.”

“But.” Harry started,  but got interrupted by Louis this time.

“He’s just awesome with a guitar. I love me a man who can play the guitar.”

“Sorry to ruin your fantasies mate, but I’m straight.” Niall frowned.

“And I’m not. But no worries. I only adore your guitar playing capabilities young mister, For all of other masculine things, I quite adore mister Styles here.” Louis smiled, and Harry couldn’t help but smile as well. Here they were, having fun as a couple with one of Harry’s best friends.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here by the way. I take it Louis is the guy in the pictures then?” Niall asked. “Are you aware of the fact that everyone can see them? That right now, the entire world is discovering that the incredible womanizer Harry Styles is actually as gay as a picnic basket?”

“Jeez, you sure do have a way with words.” Louis remarked.

“Yeah, I’m great with a guitar, but I do indeed have a way with words as well. Kind of mandatory for the job. You may have noticed Louis, that we write our lyrics ourselves.”

“Oh God, let’s not discuss that again.”

“And I’m a better writer anyway.” Harry said, with a smug face.

“Oi. Shut up Styles.” Niall threw a pillow at him.

“I thought you wanted me to answer your questions!” Harry said, all innocent.

“You know, you can be a real twat sometimes. Are you sure you like this guy?” Niall asked Louis, pointing at Harry.

“I like him, yeah, but I can’t be 100% sure until we had sex. Which we were totally going to do by the way, until you started ringing the doorbell.” Louis said calmly.

“Yup. We totally were.” Harry chipped in.

“Yugh. For fuck’s sake.” Niall sighed.

“So, thanks for coming Niall. I’ll quickly answer your questions, and then you leave again my dear friend.”

“Gladly.”

“Yes, and then I’m going to fuck Harry here, and then I’ll let you know if I still like him.” Louis smirked. Harry knew he was blushing, and he couldn’t help but feel proud that he had managed to score Louis Tomlinson. Probably the only guy in the world who was able to shut Niall Horan up.

“Deal.” Harry and Louis highfived, and Niall hit himself in the head.

“Stupid, stupid Niall. Here I was, being a good friend and all, making sure my friend was okay. And this is the thanks I get. Dirty gay sex references. Yugh.”

“Sorry mate.”

“It’s okay. You guys are disgustingly cute, so I’ll live.”

“Oooow, thanks Niall Horan!” Louis chirped.

“Louis, just call me Niall. The last name just makes it weird.”

“Will do Niall.”

“So, Harry. Talk? Or are we going to dart around this topic forever?” Niall asked, his face all serious all of the sudden.

“Yeah, so here’s the thing. You know, it’s like, I’ve been wanting to, like, I mean, you know.”

“God Harry,” Louis rolled his eyes, “Use words, make sentences, and try to make sense. The longer you take to explain it, the longer you have to wait for sex.” Niall laughed, and Harry had to agree with Louis’ reasoning. It had been easy to turn off his phone and to ignore the pictures online, but to explain it out loud was a different matter. Yet, Louis’ words motivated him.

“So you know how I wanted to be out. Like, no more hiding, no more lies.” Harry stopped for a second, and Niall nodded. “This was it, really. Jeff called me to inform me about the pictures, and asked me what he wanted me to do. And I didn’t care. I really like Louis, and he likes me, and I don’t want to hide that anymore. It shouldn’t make a difference that Louis is a guy. I’m in love, and that’s all that matters. It’s not about the fans, it’s not about the press, it’s about Louis and me.”

“That’s great Harry.” Niall replied.

“Yeah. Jeff advised me to turn off my phone, so sorry about not answering and getting you to come over to check on me. Thanks so much, but as you can see I’m doing quite alright.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”

“Yeah.” Harry beamed. “I’m out Niall. I’m really out now.”

“I’m so proud of you mate. And just, so happy for you guys.” Niall said. He took a short break, and then addressed Louis: “I don’t know about you Louis, but Harry here was pretty much in love with you from day one. You should have seen him at the studio. A sad desperate puppy, that’s what he was.”

“Yeah well. The feeling’s pretty mutual. We discussed it. Over pizza.”

“Pizza? You guys definitely have my blessing now.” Niall chuckled.

“So, that’s it I guess.” Harry said innocently, fully knowing that it would trigger Niall to leave.

“Smooth Styles. Basically you’re saying ‘get out’ in a friendly way.”

“Well, I’ve answered your questions, so…”

“One more question though. Are you going to release a public statement or something like that? You know, just to say that you are the only gay one in the band?” Niall winked.

“Uhm, I wasn’t planning on it. I mean, I was just going to ignore it all. Maybe next week, I’ll tweet something. But about me. Not about you, you dickhead.”

“That’s what I figured. You know, people are going to assume that we’re all gay now.”

“No, they’re not. Liam’s with Cheryl, and has been for a long time. Me being gay doesn’t say anything about you guys. You know that, right?”

“Well, I still see it as my duty to sleep with tons of models to prove my straightness.” Niall deadpanned, and Louis burst out laughing. Harry was so happy to see that Niall and Louis got along. He had guessed that the two characters would indeed be a great match, but it was always easy to think something like that. But seeing it happen now, and knowing that he was right, made him giddy. After all, Niall was one of his closest friends, and Louis was, well, Louis.

“You do that Niall, you do that.” Harry offered.

“Models, here I come.” Niall stood up, and started walking. “I’ll see myself out then, so the two of you can return to your sexy time.”

“Subtle.” Louis remarked. Niall just waved one more time, and a few seconds later they heard the front door close.

“So, sexy time?” Harry pouted.

“God Harry, what am I going to do with you? Sometimes you’re like a five year-old, and one second later you’re like a hot superstar.”

“I’m always a superstar, you know.”

“Arrogance,” Louis started, and he jumped on Harry, holding on to him by clinging his legs around Harry’s thighs, “will get you to bed. Take me upstairs, superstar.”

“Your wish is my command.” Harry said smilingly, and he clumsily started walking, while trying to kiss Louis and making sure he didn’t drop him. Quite a challenge for an uncoordinated guy like Harry. However, he was highly motivated.

Walking through the hallway and holding Louis, Harry could feel himself getting hard. And, he was pretty sure he could feel Louis’ erection against his own body as well.

So. This was finally happening. Sex with Louis.

_Finally_.

Harry was still incredibly nervous, but kissing Louis and touching his entire body, even though still fully clothed, just felt so right, and everything the two of them did just felt good.

When they arrived at Harry’s bed, Louis finally let go of Harry and jumped onto the bed.

“Take off your clothes superstar. Show me how pretty you are underneath those fancy and ridiculously expensive outfits.”

Harry obliged, and it took him no more than a full minute to undress. Two years ago, it would have taken him a lot longer thanks to his full closet of skinny jeans, but recently he had started wearing another type of trousers, and today he had on a rather broad checkered one, so undressing was a walk in the park. Louis was on the bed, watching him intently. Harry stopped when he arrived at his boxers, and the nerves returned again. Louis was still fully clothed, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Come here love.” Louis said sweetly, and Harry’s confidence returned in a heartbeat. He crawled onto the bed, hovering above Louis for a second, and then once more kissing him. He felt Louis’ hands exploring his body, and he loved every single touch.

“Why are you still dressed?” Harry asked in between kisses, and he could hear Louis giggle.

“I was wondering when you were going to notice.”

“Well, I’m kissing you, feeling your hands all over me, I’m quite hard, very much in the mood, and you are still wearing lots of layers. It’s hard not to notice.”

Even though Louis was positioned underneath Harry, he gained control and he flipped them over, so he was straddling Harry. He looked him in the eye, slowly kissed him again, then retreated. Louis stood up and started undressing slowly, while softly humming the tune of Joe Cocker’s ‘You can leave your hat on’. Harry giggled, because seriously, who does that? So he joined Louis, and started singing to Louis’ humming.

“Baby take off your coat, real slow. And take off your shoes, I’ll take off your shoes. Baby take off your dress, yes yes yes. You can leave your hat on. You can leave your hat on.”

When he finished the chorus, Louis was standing naked in front of him, and he was absolutely beautiful.

“You are so gorgeous.” Harry said, staring at Louis body.

“Stop drooling, stop talking, and let me kiss you.” Louis ordered, and he crawled back onto Harry. He kissed every inch of his broad torso, taking his time to run his fingers over every single tattoo, and to gently suck his four nipples. In the meantime, his other hand wandered down, and was stroking Harry’s cock through his boxers. Harry had his hands on Louis’ back, and was trying to guide them down to Louis’ arse, but he couldn’t quite reach it. Louis stopped his own actions to remove Harry’s hands, and gave him a knowing look which was clear to Harry: ‘Let me do the work.’ Harry simply nodded, and Louis continued to explore his body. In just two minutes, he had reduced Harry to a mess, just letting it all happen, sighing, moaning, and panting.

“Oh God, Louis. This feels so good.”

“You loser,” he giggled. “I’m not doing anything just yet. Enjoy. Let it all happen babe.”

Harry should really reject to the fact that Louis just called him a loser, but he was also stroking his cock, and sucking his nipple, so Harry couldn’t be bothered. He just focused on Louis’ use of a pet name, and he loved it.

_Babe_.

He felt Louis moving a bit, and all of the sudden his boxers were coming off. Harry’s cock was already incredibly hard, and immediately Louis’ mouth was upon it, making Harry moan out loud. He put his hands into Louis’ hair, craving some kind of touch.

Just a second later, Louis’ mouth was gone again, and Harry opened his eyes to see what was going on.

“Harry, love, let me do the work.” Louis ordered again. So far, he had been quite bossy in bed, and Harry loved it.

“But I want to touch you,” he pouted.

“You will. But not now. This time, I’m going to make you feel what making love feels like, in comparison to just having sex with someone you don’t care about. Let me do it. I want to do it.”

Harry really wanted to touch Louis, but this offer sounded pretty good as well.

“Making love?” Harry asked, a huge grin on his face.

“Yeah. I know, sappy as fuck, but after your little speech earlier on, I feel it’s my duty.” Louis explained seriously, still slowly stroking Harry’s cock. His other hand was holding Harry’s two hands in place.

“But. I want to touch you.” Harry repeated. He really enjoyed touching Louis. But Louis' offer of the making love part also sounded pretty good. Sappy, yes, but cute as well.

Louis released Harry, jumped out of the bed, and walked to his closet. Harry was a bit lost, and didn’t immediately understand what Louis was doing. When he returned, he was holding one of Harry’s ties.

“Do you trust me?” Louis asked, gently taking Harry’s hands into his own.

“Course I do.” Harry whispered, his mouth hanging open and his eyes focussed on the tie.

“Then let me do this.” Louis stated, all bossy again. Harry simply nodded, giving Louis permission and so the latter tied Harry’s two hands together above his head, placing them on the pillow.

“I’d let you do everything.” Harry whispered again, causing Louis to smile while tying the knot.

“You’re so easy,” he chuckled, “We’re going to have so much fun together in bed. I’m going to make you feel so good, love.” He was kissing Harry again, slowly working his way down, deliberately taking his time to tease Harry a bit. Even though he was tied up and completely naked, he felt as if he had won the lottery.

“Yes.”

“Eloquent Styles. Well-phrased as ever.”

“Uhu.” Harry replied, completely pliant under Louis’ touch. He had lost every coherent thought.

Louis laughed, and let his tongue roam Harry’s torso. He worked his way up to his neck, switching between kisses and sucking. When he arrived at his ear, he silently whispered “Enjoy babe,” before he licked Harry’s ear and started sucking at his earlobe. Harry was completely lost again, and he moaned Louis’ name.

Louis worked his way down again, and Harry was half expecting another blowjob, but this time Louis only stroked his cock, and used his mouth on Harry’s balls instead. Harry felt heavenly.

“You’re so beautiful babe. Love that trust me so completely.” Louis whispered, and Harry had to agree. He completely trusted Louis, even though he was naked and his hands were tied together. Louis quickly crawled back up, and kissed Harry’s mouth again. Harry gave him access, and for a minute it was just their tongues dancing. Louis stopped, and both men just looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. “You’re doing great love. You taste so good,” Louis whispered, and then he climbed back down again. Harry closed his eyes again, and he felt Louis spread his cheeks. Without any warning at all, he started rimming him, causing Harry to completely lose it. Just like that, Harry came, sighing Louis’ name again. Despite the fact that he couldn’t touch Louis, he had never felt so loved during sex. Mission accomplished.

When he opened his eyes, Louis was hovering above him again, a gigantic smirk upon his face. Harry smiled as well, and moaned again.

“That was great. That felt. I mean, you’re so…” Harry was searching for a word to describe Louis’ greatness in bed, but his vocabulary let him down.

“I see your eloquence continues,” Louis replied, still smirking. “And I haven’t even fucked you yet. Want to come again?”

“Uhu.”

“God Harry. Are you okay? Can you still form a coherent sentence?” Louis asked, feigning worry.

“Yes. Make me come again.” Harry ordered. He couldn’t hide the grin even though he tried.

“Brilliant. On it!” Louis yelled, and he kissed Harry. He worked his way down again, and he didn’t hesitate to lick a bit of Harry’s come.

_So hot._

Louis placed himself in front of Harry's arse, and took his time circling it with his fingers. Then, ever so slowly, he started opening Harry with one finger, and within a minute Harry was hard again.

“God Louis,” he sighed. He wished he could touch Louis, but he loved that he was being taken care of so intently. Louis made him feel precious. Next time, he would touch Louis.

“Yes, let’s make it a religious experience.” Louis chuckled, while adding a second finger, and still kissing wherever he could. He scissored his fingers, causing Harry to moan louder, and he was squirming now.

“More.” Harry whispered. He felt Louis retreating his fingers, and also his lips on Harry’s body disappeared. Harry opened his eyes, and saw Louis looking at him.

“I’m the one in charge here, in case you hadn’t noticed.” His face was a combination of seriousness and hotness. Harry couldn’t think straight, and he absolutely adored the way Louis was handling this.

“Yes.” Harry agreed.

“I call the shots, right?” Louis demanded.

“Yes.”

“Want some more?”

“Please.”

“Please who?”

“Please Louis. More please.”

“Well well well. Who am I to say no to that?” Louis was smiling again, and Harry couldn’t be bothered by any of it. Louis was so hot, especially with this bossy horny attitude. He felt Louis’ fingers entering him again, three ones this time, and that’s the only thing that mattered now. He curled his toes, tilted his head back, and enjoyed every single second of Louis touching him.

“You’re doing so well love.” Louis cooed, and he continued fingering him.

“Please Louis.” Harry moaned again. He loved the fingers, but he wanted more. He wanted to feel Louis inside of him.

“What do you want babe?” Louis asked, and Harry could hear the smile in his question.

“Please fuck me.” Harry whispered, barely able to say more. His hands were still tied up, and he was getting desperate. Desperate to be fucked, and desperate to touch.

“So polite.” Louis grinned. “Where do you keep lube and condoms?”

“Nightstand. Bottom drawer.”

Harry could feel Louis disappearing again, but this time he didn’t mind so much, since he knew what Louis was doing. He heard the wrapper of the condom being torn, and he felt Louis’ hands returning, lubed up this time, and he knew what that meant.

“Please,” he sighed again.

“You are so beautiful love. I’m going to fuck you like this, you on your back, and I want you to look at me the entire time. Open your eyes babe.” Louis was giving orders again, and Harry did exactly as he said. He opened his eyes, and saw Louis' cock entering him slowly. A gorgeous sight.

“Tell me if it hurts.” Louis instructed again, and Harry nodded. “Oh fuck, you feel so good. Tight, but oh so good.”

It hurt a bit indeed, but in a good way. He had been well prepared by Louis, and he was acutely aware of the fact that he had Louis inside of him. Harry loved that, had been waiting for that from their first meeting basically. He looked at Louis, his manly body, his cute face, and the adorable determined look upon his face. He was so gorgeous, and he deserved to know.

“You’re so pretty.” Harry said, half moaning the words. His eloquence clearly hadn’t returned just yet.

“You should see yourself babe. Stunning, that’s what you are.” Louis said, while slowly thrusting into Harry. The two of them kept on looking at each other while Louis was fucking Harry, slowly, and stroking his cock at the same time. Louis occasionally let out a loud moan, and Harry did the same. Now, in his own bed at the age of 23, Harry finally understood the difference between having sex and making love. Despite being tied up, Louis’ look made him feel so loved, The way he was being taken care of right now, felt absolutely incredible.

Louis slowly sped up the pace, and started moaning louder. Harry was starting to get addicted to that sound, and it made him even more aroused.

He loved how Louis how just doing everything, how he had tied him up, and how Harry could do nothing else but take it.

“Oh fuck, Going to … come again.” Harry sighed, to warn Louis.

“You better.” Louis ordered again. You’re coming first, I want to see that,” he paused, quickening the pace again, “see your pretty face when you come.” Louis’ bossy voice was so extremely hot.

“God.” Harry sighed, squirming. Being so close to coming made him want to touch Louis even more.

“I didn’t take you for such a religious man Harry.” Louis chuckled, while still pounding into Harry fiercely. Louis was looking at Harry with such an endearing look, which Harry considered to be quite impressive since they were in the middle of hot sex, and there was nothing endearing about that. Nope.

_Just. Very. Hot._

“Come on Harry. Come for me.” Louis demanded, and Harry obliged.

“Fuuuuuuck,” he sighed, and just like that, he came. He felt absolutely extremely wonderful, divine, extraordinary. He felt as if his bedroom was the entire world, and nothing else mattered. It was amazing how Louis succeeded in making him feel like that, every single time. Whenever Louis and Harry were together, the rest of the world became irrelevant.

Louis continued for a few more thrusts, and then he came as well. He tilted his head backwards, and moaned Harry’s name. Harry adored the view of Louis reaching his orgasm, and promptly decided that he wanted to see this sight every single day for the rest of his life. Louis collapsed on top of Harry, and now Harry really wanted to touch him.

“Untie me Louis. I want to cuddle you.”

“I literally orgasmed five seconds ago. Give me a moment, will you?” Louis half whispered, half demanded, still breathing heavily.

“But I want to hold you.” Harry pouted. Louis sighed, and started moving.

“Darling, just hold on.” Louis said, and he untied the knot. “There you go, impatient ungrateful twat.” And he collapsed on Harry a second time, not moving.

Harry immediately put his arms around him, and started cuddling him as if his life depended on it.

“I’m not ungrateful. I’m very grateful. You made me come twice. I mean, no one’s ever done that before.” Harry explained, while stroking Louis’ hair. It was so soft. The two of them lay there, both coming down from their highs. Their breathing became normal again, and Harry kept on cuddling Louis.

“Thank you, you know, for showing me the difference.” Harry whispered.

“You’re welcome.”

“Can we do it again tomorrow?”

“Eager, are we?”

“Very. I told you I was experienced, but this was just sex on a whole different level. I mean, it should be obligatory on a daily basis if it’s that good. No?”

“Sure.” Louis shrugged.

“Now look who’s the eloquent one?” Harry joked, and he felt Louis pinching him.

“Excuse me, you were just laying here, nice and comfy, enjoying my hard work. I made you come twice, which is quite exhausting.”

“True. Tomorrow, you should let me do the work.”

“Gladly.”

“Although, I loved being tied up.” Harry paused, coming to a realisation about how he might have a submissive streak. “I’d never done that before, but it was great to see how you took control. I never would have even assumed I would like that, but you were so, so… I mean, like, irresistible. Especially your bossy language.”

“Thanks love. Good to know.” Louis said. He crawled out of Harry’s arms, and left the room. Harry wondered where he went. It couldn’t be that Louis had gone to his own room to sleep now, could it?

Yet, a minute later Louis returned wearing a fresh pair of boxers, and he was holding a washcloth. He cleaned up Harry’s tummy, and kissed him on the nose. Then he took a clean pair of boxers out of Harry’s closet, and tossed them in his direction. Harry put them on immediately, and once again he was amazed by how Louis was taking care of him. He loved this new side of Louis he had discovered, how he took care of him, and so he started singing Drake’s song.

“If you let me, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll take care of you.” Harry sang, and Louis gave him an offended look.

“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but _I_ am actually taking care of you. Not the other way around.” Louis said, as he reorganised the blankets for the two of them.

“I know. So the lyrics apply to you then. I was singing it for you.”

“Excuses Styles.” Louis said, as he crawled into Harry’s arms again and placed his head upon his chest. “There’s only one song that is appropriate right now. Ashlee fucking Simpson.”

“That crazy girl who can’t sing?” Harry asked. He knew her name, but she had been famous when he was quite young, and he wasn’t aware of her oeuvre. The only thing he remembered was that she was Jessica Simpson’s sister, and that once she had sung completely out of tune while on tv. Ouch.

“Yes.”

“Which song then? What are the lyrics?”

And this time, it was Louis who started singing:

“Seems like I can finally rest my head on something real. I like the way that feels,” Louis crooned, and Harry loved the sound of his voice.

“Rest your head on something real?” Harry asked. He didn’t get why the lyrics were appropriate. His brain wasn’t functioning entirely just yet. He had just come twice, after all.

“You, you idiot. I can rest my head on you. You’re the ‘something real’ part. I was trying to be all sweet here, and you ruined it.” Louis softly pinched his nipple, so Harry knew he was faking it.

“Ooooh,” Harry cooed, “that’s so sweet. Thanks. And thanks for singing to me. And thanks again for the difference between making love and sex lesson. And thanks for the two orgasms. Thanks thanks thanks.”

“You’re an idiot.” Louis replied, but he kept his head still on Harry’s chest, and Harry kept on stroking his hair.

“This idiot is madly in love with you, you know? Truly, madly, deeply.”

“Yeah well, the feeling’s pretty mutual.”


	15. Two Directions?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Harry and Louis totally slept together. This is the morning after: Harry has to go back to reality, back to work. And Louis, well... You'll see.

Harry woke up with Louis spooning him, and his breathing told Harry that he was still sleeping. He slowly turned around, and just looked at Louis, which really was an amazing view. He was just so beautiful, and Harry couldn’t believe his luck, couldn’t believe that this was real. So, to wrap his head around it, he tried to get all the facts from the previous day straight.

  1. He had recorded a single with Steve Aoki.



_Like, what? A single outside One Direction?_

  1. The single was a love declaration written by Louis.



_Like, oooh. So cute. So Louis._

  1. Louis had admitted to being in love with him.



_Finally. Likewise. Oh so very likewise._

  1. They had kissed outside for the entire world to see.



_Couldn’t care less._

  1. Harry had been outed in the press.



_About bloody time._

  1. Harry had admitted to having never combined sex with emotions.



_Quite awkward conversation. Oops._

  1. Louis had tied him up, and had fucked him.



_Brilliant. Felt amazing. More please._

It sounded like a day that came out of predictable, and oh so cheesy chick flick, but he didn’t care. Louis had admitted he was in love with him, Louis had fucked him, and Louis was still here in the morning. Basically, it was a dream come true.

Yesterday, in just a few hours’ time, Harry had witnessed a complete change in Louis’ behaviour. Yes, Louis had always been a funny, cheeky and loud guy, but after the two of them had returned to Harry’s house, he had discovered a total new side of Louis. He had acted super sweet, incredibly concerned about Harry, and he had made it obvious that he genuinely cared. It seemed that after his confession to be in love, his walls had broken down, and he completely let Harry in. Even when they had sex. He had tied Harry up, just to be able to let him experience what it feels like to be fucked be someone who cares. It had been so hot and sweet at the same time. Afterwards, he had taken care of Harry, by cleaning up, getting him clean clothes, and organising the blankets. Harry had already been completely in love with Louis in the morning, but after having experienced this other side of Louis, it had felt as if his love had doubled.

But, Harry was also aware of the fact that the two of them had spent the entire evening trapped in their own bubble, turning off their phones, and blissfully ignoring the world in the process. Niall had popped in to check on him, but further on, Harry had no clue of what had happened outside his house. He had no idea about the response or reactions from the press or the fans. And as lovely as his evening with Louis had been, now it was time to face the music. Today, he had to return to the real world, starting with going to the studio. He needed to talk to the boys. 

However, when he took another look at Louis, he didn’t feel the need to get up, or to leave the house at all. Quite the contrary, he wished he could stay in bed with Louis for the rest of his life. And as lovely as it was to just creepily admire Louis’ beauty, Harry was quite sure it would be more fun when he was awake. So, Harry started kissing him. First, his nose, then both his cheeks. Next, he slowly kissed Louis’ eyes, and his forehead. He moved on to kiss his chin, and then his lips. When he kissed his lips, he felt Louis returning the kiss softly, and Harry could see him open his eyes.

“Well, that’s a nice way to wake up,” Louis said, his voice still rough. He rubbed his eyes like a baby, yawned, and stretched his entire body. His hair was all pointy, sticking into every possible direction, and his morning breath was clearly present. Yet, somehow Harry still thought he looked wonderful.

“Good morning love.” Harry smiled.

“Good morning to you too.” Louis said, and then he wrapped his arms around Harry and snogged him properly. Just a couple of hours ago, Louis had fucked him, and Harry had come twice. Surprisingly enough, it took him only a minute of snogging to be hard again. Louis was touching him everywhere, just letting his hands roam all over Harry’s body, and he quickly picked up upon Harry’s arousal.

“Hard again, are we?” Louis asked innocently, but Harry could practically feel the smirk upon his face.

“Sorry about that. You just… I mean, you’re so hot.” Harry confessed, while stroking Louis’ hair.

“Well well well, who am I to argue with that?” Louis asked, while he continued to kiss and touch Harry as if his life depended on it. His hands were on Harry’s arse now, and he was kneading it as if it was dough.

“You really shouldn’t.” Harry said, a lame comeback but his brain had stopped working again.

“How about I fuck you again, but without the tying up part?”

“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.” Harry whispered.

“Alrighty Miss Bennet.” Louis chuckled.

Yesterday, the sex had been a bit rough, yet very romantic with the constant staring into each other’s eyes. Harry had loved it. This time, it was a very different type of sex. They started out slower, with more kissing and touching, and Harry enjoyed every single second because this time his hands were free to touch Louis. He roamed his entire body as if it were a holy shrine. It was so loving, and yet so very hot. In no time, the two of them were grinding, and occasionally they stroked each other’s cocks. No real hand jobs or blowjobs, just a lot of touching.

Just touching, and in this way Harry was introduced to another kind sex with Louis, and again Harry loved it. The room quickly filled with Louis’ moans and Harry sighs as they continued their sweet form of foreplay. However, after a couple of minutes, both of them were panting, and very much in the mood for more. It was Louis who took action. He turned Harry around, and placed him on hands and knees.

“Okay if I fuck you like this?”

“All good. Just…” Harry whispered, extremely slowly.

“Just what love? Try to use sentences. You know, subjects and verbs?” Louis chuckled.

“Just, get on with it. _Please_.” Harry sighed. He was so extremely turned on, and he wanted to feel Louis inside of him as soon as possible. Louis, however, seemed to be enjoying Harry’s begging.  

“Impatient, are we?”

“Louis, please!”

“Please what superstar?” Louis asked, and Harry could practically hear the broad smile in his voice.

“Please, fuck me.” Harry begged, and it seemed to work. He heard a condom wrapper, and a few seconds later he could feel Louis entering him. No staring at each other this time, but the incredible sensation of feeling Louis filling him up, combined with his hot moans, made Harry come again quite quickly. Louis followed a minute later, and he crashed upon Harry’s back.

“Oh fuck Harry,” he said, taking a pause to steady his breath, “that was one of the best quickies of my life.”

“Same here,” Harry agreed. “Except for the morning breath maybe.”

“Well, you woke me up. So, you could have easily gone to the bathroom first to brush your teeth, couldn’t you?”

“Technically, yes. But then you still would’ve had your morning breath.”

“Sure, but that’s not my problem, is it now?” Louis said cheekily, and he pinched Harry’s nipple. “Now go and cook me some breakfast love. I’ve made you come four times in the last 24 hours, I deserve some kind of reward.”

“That you surely do,” Harry chuckled, “but I’m afraid I can’t.” He got out of the bed, and started picking out an outfit.

“You can’t? Or you won’t?” Louis frowned.

“I’ve got to go to the studio today. I should leave in, like, fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes? You could easily prepare me toast in fifteen minutes. Come on Styles, rise to the occasion.” Louis said jokingly.

“Sorry love. It’ll be showering, getting dressed, maybe some more snogging, and a banana for the road.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be from now on? You just used me for sex?” Louis gasped, playing to be all offended. He sat up in bed, and placed his hands on his hips. “I know I’m a great catch and all, but that’s even low for you. No more sexual favours for you superstar.” He waved his little finger in the air to emphasize his point, and Harry was once more completely endeared. He wanted to spend the entire fifteen minutes he had left together with Louis.

“Join me in the shower?”

“Sure. But no funky business.” Louis threatened.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Yugh, sex with you!” Harry exclaimed.

“You’re a terrible actor Styles.” Louis hopped out of the bed, and joined Harry in his bathroom. “Waw, this is one fancy bathroom. It’s about twice the size of mine. You’ve been holding out on me!”

“Yeah well, the fancy bathroom is only for overnight guests.” Harry grinned. Louis just winked, and joined him in the shower.

 

 

13 minutes later both of them were standing by the front door, holding their mobiles phones. During their quick shower, they had both agreed to turn on their mobiles together, to see how many messages, mails, calls, and notifications they had missed. Harry was sure he’d win this round, since he was famous, and he felt confident that he knew a lot more people. Yet, Louis insisted that he’d win, because he was sure that each of his sisters would have called at least ten times. They’d made a bet of it, and the loser would have to cook that evening. The bet only concerned texts and calls, since Harry had about 20 million Twitter followers, so that wouldn’t be entirely fair.

“1, 2, 3, turn it on!” Louis yelled excitedly, and Harry obliged. Both mobiles started buzzing, and the two men waited while the numbers upon the screen rose.

“28 texts, and 23 missed calls.” Harry said.

“Ha!” Louis exclaimed, “57 missed calls, and 25 texts! Victory!” He put one fist into the air to celebrate, and used the other one as a microphone to start singing for Harry. “I am the champion, my friend. And I’ll keep on fighting, till the end. Badadaaaam, I am the champion, I am the champion, No time for losers, because I am the champion… of the world!”

“As lovely as it is to hear you sing that I’m a loser, I really need to get going.” Harry said, and he opened the door. “I’ll see you this evening?”

“Yes. You’ll see me here, eating the dinner that _you_ prepared, loser.” Louis smirked.

“Yeah please, rub it in. Maybe I’ll spit in your dinner then.” Harry said, and raised his eyebrow.

“No, you wouldn’t. You like me too much to do something filthy like that.” Louis chuckled, and he pushed Harry out the door. “Now get out, and go get some work done. Make some millions while you’re at it.” Harry waved, and walked to his car.

 

When he climbed into his car, he realized that he never asked Louis what he was going to do all day. They had been talking a lot, but they didn’t really seem to have discussed anything of importance. The only 2 things that had been established so far, were that they both were very much in love with each other, and that Harry was cooking Louis dinner that evening. Those 2 facts were enough to get Harry to smile the entire ride to the studio.

 

As he was walking to the entrance of the building, he saw that the paparazzi were waiting for him, and so were the journalists. No surprises there, after yesterday’s pictures that was to be expected. Cameras started flashing when they spotted him, and he could hear the questions flying around his head.

“Harry, are you gay?”

“Harry, any comments upon those pictures from the airport?”

 “Are you dating the guy we saw in those pictures from yesterday?”

“Harry, where’s your boyfriend now? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Is everyone in One Direction gay?”

“Is the guy you were kissing Louis Tomlinson?”

“Did you really date any of these girls in the past?”

Harry just nodded once, to no one in particular, and walked in without answering any of their questions.

 

 

“Harry!” Liam sounded surprised as he saw Harry walking in. Niall dropped his pencil, and turned around. “What are you doing here?”

“Mate, we weren’t expecting you today.”

“Yeah, we sent you about ten texts telling you not to bother to come because of the paps downstairs.” Liam explained.

Harry took his mobile, and waved it at the boys. “Yeah, this one has been turned off for a while. I just turned it back on as I left the house. I didn’t check any of the messages just yet, because I was driving. I thought the studio would be a good safe haven to catch up on all the messages and calls I’ve missed.”

“Nice theory.” Niall offered, and Liam nodded.

“So…” Liam started, uncertainty in his voice, “you haven’t seen anything of what the press has been saying about you? Nothing of the fans’ reactions?”

“Nope. Don’t have a clue.” Harry shrugged, offering both of his band members a smile.

“Wow. Apparently, ignorance really is bliss.” Niall said.

“Should I be worried?” Harry asked, seeing that both of them seemed to be kind of serious. So far, Harry hadn’t been worrying at all, since he had been enjoying Louis’ company, and that had been his priority. But maybe not all reactions had been positive, since neither Liam nor Niall were smiling.

“Well…” Liam hesitated. He stopped talking and looked at Niall, still a frown upon his face. Harry was getting slightly worried.

“Maybe…” Niall started, but stopped as well, and now Harry was properly worried. If even Niall couldn’t joke about the situation, the response to Harry’s pictures yesterday must be bad.

“Is it that bad?” Harry asked. Jeff had told him yesterday that just ignoring the pictures wasn’t the best approach, but that he supported Harry in his decision. Should he have asked Jeff to take care of the pictures, and make them disappear? Should he have issued a statement or something?

“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted this.” Liam said. Niall shook his head to show that he clearly agreed.

“Oh God.” Harry whispered. “What have I done?” He had been incredibly selfish. He was in a boyband for God’s sake, and he had chosen to be outed by tacky pictures of him kissing Louis at the airport. He hadn’t done anything to prevent it, because he was only thinking about himself. He hadn’t really considered what it might to do the band, and he certainly hadn’t considered what it might do to Niall and Liam personally.

“Mate, just take a look at it. Start with Twitter. The hashtag Harry Styles is trending, you’ll see that the majority of all the people are pretty much saying the same thing.”

Harry saw the concerned looks on Niall and Liam’s faces, and he had never felt so, so … shitty. He felt bad, guilty, ashamed, all of those things combined. Right now, he mostly wanted to rectify the situation. He wished he had a DeLorean so he could go back in time to change his actions. He wouldn’t have kissed Louis outside, and the pictures would never have been taken in the first place.

But it was out of his hands now. He sat down, and took his phone.

“Enjoy mate.” Niall said, frowning.

Harry started reading, and he saw that #HarryStyles was seldom used alone, and that it was mostly combined with #WeStillLoveYouHarry or #GayIsOkay. Thousands of people had tweeted, commenting on Louis’ and his pictures, and so many of these tweets were positive.

Shania Lemoon  
So so proud of #HarryStyles. Look at them! HOTNESS OVERLOAD! Goals AF!

GirlAlmighty-It  
OMG OMG look how Harry’s hands are in the guys’ hair when there snogging. So cute!!! #HarryStyles

1D-Emma  
Lord help me! Seeing #HarryStyles kissing another boy has ruined me 4ever.

Vikki_Styles  
PROUD PROUD PROUD MOMMY #HarryStyles

Louisa M28  
Ok so i never thought this would happen but omg how hot is this!!!! #HarryStyles

 

And there were thousands and thousands more like those. Here and there he’d spot a negative one, but the overall majority was very positive about the entire situation. He kept on reading, but as soon as he lifted his head, he saw Niall and Liam staring at him. Both men had gigantic grins upon their faces.

“Fooled ya!” Niall yelled, and he jumped out of his chair and into Harry’s arms. “Fooled you so hard!”

“You should’ve seen your face mate!” Liam joined in on the hug, “You really thought the reactions were bad there for a minute, didn’t you now?”

Harry buried his head in between his two bandmates for a second, and was just genuinely pleased with how amazing his friends were. Okay, they had tricked him, but he loved a joke as much as the next guy. When he looked up again, Niall and Liam let go as well.

“Guys, the response is just … I’ve got no words.”

“They all love you. And they all love you for being who you are.” Liam said, his face stern again.

“Yeah,” Niall pitched in, “They love you. It’s as simple as that. And because they love you, they love Louis as well.”

“I can’t believe teenage girls are saying that me kissing Louis is hot.” Harry smiled.

“Uhu. That’s not hot at all. Just plain disgusting.” Niall stated, and Liam pinched his shoulder.

“Be nice Nialler.” Liam said.

“I am being nice, I’m just honest as well. It _is_ disgusting. I’ve seen the two of them together yesterday, and trust me, there’s nothing hot about it. They’re just so darn cute it becomes a bit annoying, really.”

“Yeah, about that mate. Niall informed me about your chat yesterday evening. Don’t think because I didn’t show up I wasn’t worried either. Niall just got there before I did, and he called me as soon as he left.”

“Wait…” Harry took a second to process what Liam was saying. “Are you actually apologizing for not coming over yesterday?” Liam surely deserved some kind of awards for being the kindest man in the world.

“Well, yeah. I mean, the press had a field day with your pictures, and I felt I had to do something, or at least talk to you. I called you a bunch of times, but you didn’t answer.”

“No, Louis and I were kind of busy.” Harry winked, causing Niall to make vomiting sounds.

“Okay, see, I’m trying to be all sincere and worried here, and now you’ve transformed into the disgustingly cute creature that Niall just described.” Liam frowned. “You’ve really got it bad, don’t you?”

“It’s just… I’m so happy. I’ve never been this happy Liam.” Harry confessed, and as soon as he had uttered the words, a broad grin appeared on Liam’s face.

“That’s just great mate. You deserve it. I mean, you’ve had to deal with so much shit, you deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“Yeah Harry, we’ve seen you pining for Louis in the studio the last couple of weeks. You had it bad, and to think that he was pining for you as well, just makes it even better. I mean, that’s like, _literally_ made for each other.” Niall said happily.

“Thanks guys.” Harry said, and he got up.

“No worries mate.”

“Would you guys mind if I check all my other messages and missed calls? My mobile pretty much exploded this morning. I’ve got some catching up to do first, before I can help you guys with writing.”

“Go ahead.” Liam said.

“Sounds incredibly boring, but sure.” Niall added.

Harry nodded, and walked into the other room.

 

 

He made a long phone call to Jeff, a short one to Nick, a long one to Gemma, and another immensely long one to his mum. Anne sounded mad for about four seconds when she picked up, but she dropped her act quite quickly. Excitedly, she admitted that she secretly had been over the moon about the pictures. She hadn’t read any of the reactions online, she was just genuinely happy for Harry.

“You’re always number 1 to us. You know that, right?”

“Yes mum.”

“Now, when am I going to meet this dashing young lad of yours?”

“If you keep on speaking this posh, I’m thinking never.”

“Harry! I’ve raised you better than that!”

“No argument there. Okay,, I’ll talk to him, see if we can arrange something to meet up.”

“Better sooner than later love.”

“Noted. I’ve got to go mum.”

“No you don’t.” Anne yelled.

“I’ll call soon,” Harry promised.

“Alright alright. Love you my baby.”

“Bye mum. Love you too.”

Next, Harry started replying all the messages he had received. Some were from people in the industry, some were from friends at home, and some were from unknown numbers. He quickly scanned through most of them, without paying too much attention to who exactly sent which message. He typed one reply, and sent that to pretty much everyone who had texted him.

**Thanks for all your support. All the love. H.**

He saw that his battery was nearly dead, so he used the same line and tweeted that one as well. Not a real statement or explanation for the pictures, but it was something. The fans would have to be pleased with that.

 

That brought Harry to his final task on his to do list. When he walked back into the studio, he saw Liam and Niall both bent over a sheet of paper, together with Julian, one of the other writers on their team. The three of them seemed to be having a discussion about something. Probably the use of trumpets, or something like that. They all looked up when they heard him close the door.

“Everything taken care of?” Liam asked.

“Styles! Congrats on the new boyfriend,” Julian offered him his hand. “When can we meet him?” Harry just nodded, hoping that would be a satisfying answer.

“Guys, can I talk to you about something?” Harry asked seriously, and he immediately noticed the change of the boys’ faces.

“Everything went alright, didn’t it? What’s up?” Niall asked.

“You sound serious Harry. You’re scaring me.” Liam said.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad. I think.” Harry said, and immediately the thought popped into his mind that they might not like the idea of Harry releasing a single outside of One Direction. They were in a band together, after all. Throughout the years, they had grown and started writing their own songs. Everything they had done music wise, they had done together. and now Harry had left them behind to do something with Steve Aoki. He got a bit nervous to tell them about it.

“Well, see, the thing is…” Harry paused, and he didn’t really know how to say it.

“Harry, talk to us. You can tell us everything, you know that, right?” Niall said seriously. Harry had managed to transform Niall’s mood into a serious one as well, so that must mean something.

“I’ll start at the beginning, that way it’ll make sense.”

“God, just say it already!” Liam said, his voice a bit annoyed.

“I’m releasing a single with Steve Aoki,” he blurted out.

“What?” Liam and Niall yelled in unison.

“Yeah, I recorded the vocals yesterday, and he’ll finish the song, and it’ll be ready for release within two months.” Harry explained.

“Steve Aoki? What the hell? How do you know him?” Niall asked, and Harry didn’t know if he was asking these things because he was jealous, or because he was mad.

“This makes no sense whatsoever Harry. Are you even allowed to do that contract wise?” Liam asked calmly.

“I don’t know. Wait, let me start again. I’ll explain everything, from the very beginning. Just let me finish the story, okay guys?”

And so Harry did. He started with explaining that Louis and Steve were actually close friends, and he could already see a smile forming on Niall’s face. Then he hesitantly continued with a flashback to the Brit Awards, where Steve had approached him, and told him to be nice to Louis. Then there was no more stopping Harry, and he went into full storytelling mode, explaining the night with Louis, the discovery of the wall, the time in the studio, the lyrics, Louis’ confession, and dropping Steve of at the airport. By the end of Harry’s story, both Niall and Liam were looking at him with a most endearing smile upon their faces. Adorable, really. It took them a minute to let everything sink in, and then the questions started.

“So, Louis actually wrote you a song? I mean, he wrote it, just for you? Or about you?”

“And it’s that good that Steve decided to use it?”

“What genre is it? I mean, Steve’s a pretty rough deejay.”

“Harry, you tosser. You actually sang the words that Louis wrote for you? Did you realize that when you were singing? I bet you didn’t, you clueless bastard!”

Harry smiled, and he knew that he had won them over. If he just said he recorded a song with Steve Aoki, they might have reacted a bit differently, referring to their contracts and so on. But, he knew the story of Louis’ lyrics combined with Harry singing them was just irresistible, and that they couldn’t possibly object to his collaboration with Steve. Mission accomplished. Who could resist a story like that? He wouldn’t even believe it himself, if it hadn’t happened to him.

“I can’t believe he wrote you a song.” Liam whispered. “That’s like, so romantic. I should totally write Cheryl a song.” Liam sat down again, and took another piece of paper, as if he was going to write the song there and then, on the spot.

Niall sat down next to Harry, and placed his hand upon his shoulder. His face was still a mix of seriousness and fondness. “Harry, do you remember when we were at your house before the Brit Awards? I had seen the wall then, and I knew that Louis had to be in love with you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Harry asked. Niall shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“You had to find out yourself, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have believed me. You needed the hear it from Louis.”

“Well, that I did,” he chuckled. “I sang the words myself. Even though it didn’t know it yet then.”

“That’s such an awesome story though. I mean, if you ever can tell your grandkids that’s how you fell in love, they’re going to be psyched.”

“It is pretty amazing yeah.” Harry said dreamily.

“Mate, you’re a smitten kitten. Capital S, and capital K.” Niall stated, and Harry couldn’t do anything else but nod and blush. “I take it you had a good night then?”

“A. Very. Good. Night.” Harry winked.

“Good. Let’s leave it at that. I don’t want to hear the details.” Niall said. “It’ll be disgusting all over again. Let’s do some writing instead.”

Just like that, they dropped the subject. Niall and Harry joined Liam and Julian again, and they had a very productive afternoon. At six o’clock, they called it a night, and Harry wanted to send Louis a text that he was on his way, but was once again reminded that his battery was dead. He left the building through the backdoor, since there were still some paps camped outside. However, he had other things on his mind. First he made a stop at Tesco, and searched for ingredients to cook Louis a lovely dinner. He added extra chocolate and whipped cream to his basket, because he already had some funky ideas for dessert in combination with sex. He may have lost the bet, but since it got him another evening with Louis, he really didn’t mind at all. When he jumped back into the car, he realized he had been smiling the entire time.

While driving home, Harry sang some very appropriate lyrics: “Ready or not, here I come. Where you at? The night is young. In the crowd the music’s loud but I will find you. Ready or not, here I come. I like your face, do you like my song?”

He was so ready for another evening with Louis. Another evening of hilarious conversations. Another evening of amazing sex. Harry was oh so ready for that. 

He walked into the kitchen and placed his bags upon the counter. No sign of Louis. Harry loudly called Louis’ name, and expected an answer, but none came.

Harry walked over to his own bedroom, and it was empty. He tried Louis’ room next, and that was empty as well. Completely empty. No sign of clothes, or suitcases, or Vans. It took Harry a moment to let it sink in. Everything that belonged to Louis in the house had vanished.  

Louis was gone.


	16. Boston Baby.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so Louis went m.i.a.  
> Harry's a bit depressed about it, and gets Gemma to help him.

Louis was gone. None of his bags were in his room, and Harry double checked the entire house to find anything, but everything that belonged to Louis had disappeared. Harry was confused, and had every right to be. In Harry’s memory, his time with Louis yesterday and this morning could be labelled as the best time of his life. He had enjoyed every single second together with him. He didn’t understand how anyone could just leave after the day they spent together yesterday.

Harry got lost in his thoughts, and tried to remember every sentence Louis had uttered, trying to pick up anything that he might have said, or this morning, that would point into this direction, the direction of Louis leaving. But nothing, absolutely nothing came to mind. It had all been so wonderful, so fantastic.

Were it the pictures maybe? Yesterday was the day that Harry had been publicly outed, and Louis had gotten dragged into. He had seemed absolutely fine with it, had even encouraged it. But maybe he changed his mind after all those messages and missed calls he had on his phone as well? Maybe he had gotten negative reactions, or something like that, and decided to split?

They only shared a kiss outside, and pretty much the whole world had seen it. That alone is reason enough to bolt, right?

_How could he just leave?_

Harry took a pint of Ben & Jerry’s out of the fridge, and filled a plate with fruit pastilles, McVities, and Maltesers. He placed himself in the couch, and turned on the film Wimbledon. The two main characters in the film had an instant connection, and just seemed to have fun with each other, which is something he thought to be true for Louis and him as well. At least he’d get to see a happy ending this time.

He muttered to no one but himself “I’m ready to wallow now.”

About five minutes into the film, Harry started thinking again, and he realized that he was acting a bit childish. He hadn’t even tried to do anything about the situation, hadn’t even waited for an explanation from Louis, had basically done nothing except accept defeat.

There had to be better ways to deal with this, and firstly he needed help from a third party. He walked into the kitchen to check his mobile, but it was still dead as it had been when he came home. He took a charger and plugged it in, and waited for it to charge enough in order to make a call. In the meanwhile he made himself a cup of tea.

A few minutes later, he called Gemma.

“Hi sis,” he started the conversation.

“Good evening my dear brother. To what do I owe this pleasure of you calling me?” Gemma asked, sarcastically as ever.

“I need someone to talk to.” Harry whispered, the sadness clearly present in his voice. No point in hiding his true intentions. He wanted her to come over, and since it was 8 o’clock on a Friday evening, she probably had other plans already.

“Oh Harry, what happened? Bad reactions to the pictures?”

“No, not at all. Louis left.”

“What do you mean, he left?”

“He’s gone. Everything that he had in this house is gone.”

“He didn’t just leave without telling you, did he?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Oh God Harry,” she paused, and Harry let her. He could hear her walking, and wondered where she was. “I’m coming over baby brother. I was going to Toyroom with my friends for some dancing this evening, but I can do that whenever I want. Console you however, is a different matter.”

“Thanks sis.” Harry said, relieved that she was so easily persuaded to come and help him out. He really had the best sister in the world. Why couldn’t he have the best boyfriend either?

“That’s okay sweetie. I’ll be there in 20 minutes, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Should I bring something? Tequila? Wine? Gin? Ice cream? Fish and chips?”

“No, I’m good.” 

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m not there yet. Don’t call or text him.” Gemma said, threateningly.

“I won’t.”

“Okay. See you soon Harry. I’ll be there before you know it.”

“Sure. Thanks again. Bye Gemma.”

“Bye love.”

When the conversation was over, Harry kept on replaying it, especially her threatening words near the end, when she had said ‘don’t call or text him’. He hadn’t done that indeed.

But… Maybe that should have been step one, instead of wallowing like a teenage girl. Just a simple text, to ask where Louis was. No harm in that, right? He realized he should have texted Louis immediately, as soon as he had arrived at home. He could still text him now. However, he had just promised Gemma not to text him.

_No texting. Right._

He started typing a message, and quickly deleted it. This scenario kept on repeating itself five times, and each time Harry typed a different type of message, with a different type of tone:

a worried one: Hi Louis, where are you? Kinda worried here, we had plans? You okay? Call me. xxx  
a romantic one: Hi love, I’m just preparing this wonderful meal for the 2 of us, and you aren’t here. You going to be home soon? Miss you. Call me. xxx  
a I-couldn’t-care-less one: Hi Louis, just got home and you’re gone. Did you move out?   
a creepy one: Hi Louis, Harry here… We had plans, and you’re gone. Everything okay? Anything happen? Should I be worried? Call me asap. XXXXXXXXX

In the end he decided upon a funny one. At least, he thought it was funny. Since Harry was a big fan of their jokes whenever they were talking, funny seemed to be the best approach for the text.

**He You! Are you wearing your invisibility cloak again? Where are you? Call me. XXX**

He pressed send, and immediately regretted it. However, the doorbell rang and he decided to let it go. When Harry walked into the hallway, he noticed something yellow handing on the back of the front door. As he approached it, he saw it was a Post-it. It read:

BOSTON BABY! Louis x

Harry took the Post-it off, and stared at it. It was a note from Louis! But… Boston? What on earth was there in Boston to be excited about? Was Louis in Boston? He had never mentioned the city before, and Harry was even more confused now.

The doorbell rang for a second time, and Harry remembered that there was actually a reason why he was standing at his front door, and he opened it immediately, still holding Louis’ note. Gemma gave him a hug immediately, and continued to hold him for a full minute.

“I’m here baby brother.” Gemma whispered soothingly into his ear.

“I’m taller than you baby sister.” Harry replied, sarcastically. Gemma let go.

“Aha! So your defence mechanism is still working. That counts for something.” Gemma said happily, and she walked in, gesticulating towards Harry to follow her. “Come on, let’s go and sit in your huge bed. Bring some chocolate and alcohol, and tell me everything. “

“Wait! No, I just found this…” Harry showed Gemma the Post-It.

“This makes no sense to me at all,” she stated dryly.

“Join the club.” Harry said.

“See, this kind of confirms my earlier demand. You must tell me everything. If I know _everything_ , I might be able to explain this little intriguing note Louis left.”

“Are you sure you want to know everything? You do realize there are some 18+ parts in this story, right?” Harry gave her a wink.

“Spare me the gory details, you nitwit. Further on, everything. Then I might be able to explain.”

“You might be?”

“Yeah, I’m not some kind of miracle worker. I can’t make any promises beforehand.” Gemma said, as if she was talking to a toddler.

“That’s too bad.” Harry admitted.

“Now, let’s get to work. We need chocolate, and alcohol. And we need it now! Chop chop baby brother.” Gemma exclaimed, as if nothing bad was going on. She proceeded to Harry’s room, whereas Harry himself went to the kitchen to fetch a couple of bars of chocolate and the drinks. Wine didn’t exactly match with chocolate, so he took a bottle of Amaretto and two shot glasses. The ideal menu to do some talking with his precious sister.

Harry was already excited about what advice she might come up with this time. The previous time they had discussed Louis, she had told him to wait, and he had listened. She had been right, because Louis had come to him, admitting he wrote the song. So, maybe she was some kind of miracle worker after all, just without realizing it…

When he walked into his room, he saw that Gemma had arranged all of the pillows at the edges of the matrass.

“Come on Harry!” Gemma yelled excitedly, She was standing in the middle of the bed, and turned around slowly, pointing at the wall of pillows. “I built us a fortress!”

“Permission to enter?” Harry asked, holing up the bottle and the chocolate.

“Permission granted!” Gemma exclaimed, and in one sweeping gestures, she removed one of the pillows as if she opened the gate of a castle. Harry crawled into his own bed, and Gemma positioned the pillow in the exact same position, so that the fortress was intact again.

He really had the best sister. Seriously. Who would build a fortress to console a brother with love issues?

Inside the fortress, Gemma quickly took the bottle of Amaretto and poured both of them a shot.

“Now talk. Whenever I feel you did something stupid, you drink. Whenever I feel Louis did something stupid, I drink. Okay?”

“Okay.” Harry agreed. “Where do I being? What’s the last thing you know about the two of us?”

“Well, remember the entire _Patience_ debacle?”

“Aah yes. Good times.” Harry sighed. “We were still talking then, albeit in a slightly different manner. Still, mostly the lyrics doing the talking. But talking, nonetheless. That’s more than now.”

“Okay. Tell me everything from that moment on.”

“Will do.” And so he did. He started telling every little thing that happened between him and Louis since the Brits, meeting Steve, the party, singing for Steve, Louis’ confession, the airport scene, a simplified version of the sex afterwards, the talk they had in bed this morning, their bet about the messages and calls, and Harry’s entrance to an empty house. Gemma didn’t interrupt him once, and it easily took him about half an hour to tell the entire story, regularly pausing and thinking about the way to make the story as clear as possible to an outsider.

“So, that’s it I guess,” he ended. Gemma nodded, and gave him a shot.

“Drink this,” she ordered. Harry wasn’t entirely sure why, but he downed the shot anyway. Gemma poured another shot, and gave the glass to Harry for a second time. “Drink,” she instructed. Harry just held the glass, and didn’t understand why Gemma made him do two shots in a row.

“Why am I the only one drinking?” Harry asked her.

“Remember what I said before? You do something stupid, you drink. Louis does something stupid, I drink,” she shrugged, and frowned to indicate that he still needed to finish his drink.

“Wait, what?” Harry asked, confusion written all over his face. “What did I do that was stupid?”

“Oh God, you really have no idea, do you now?” Gemma asked, and she pointed once more at Harry’s shot glass, and this time he actually finished it. He grimaced when he swallowed it, and Gemma laughed. “Sexy move, baby brother.”

“No no no. Don’t start talking about something else little sissy. What have I done that’s so stupid?” Harry pouted.

“Harry, it’s literally been six hours or something. Give it some time, before you think the worst. Wait at least two more days. Or try to talk to him.” Gemma paused, and took Harry’s hand in hers. She gave him a stern look, before she continued; “You haven’t heard from him, and you’re jumping to conclusions. Don’t always think the worst. You just need to speak to him. Promise me you’ll try to talk to him. Give him a chance to explain.”

“But…” Harry started.

“Promise me.” Gemma demanded, and she held Harry’s hand a bit tighter.

“How can I,” he started, but he got interrupted right away.

“Promise me, you nitwit!” Gemma exclaimed, and she started pinching Harry’s hand. This made him cave.

“Okay sis. I will.”

“That’s not a promise. Come on Harry.”

Harry sighed, and then stood up in the middle of the bed. As if he were in court, he placed his hand on his heart. “I promise I will let him explain before I assume the worst,” he almost sang in a childlike matter. How stupid it may have sounded, Gemma seemed to be pleased with it nonetheless.

“There’s a good boy.” She let go of his hand, and drank her own shot as well.

“I don’t know how I’m going to keep that promise, though. I mean, he’s gone. He doesn’t answer his texts. What more can I do?” 

Gemma took the little post-it Harry had discovered on his front door, and waved it in front of his face.

“He obviously went to Boston!”

“Obviously?” Harry wasn’t so sure. “All it says is ‘Boston Baby!’ Maybe he’s some kind of die-hard Red Sox fan, and they might have won yesterday? Or maybe the Boston Tea Party is his favourite historical event or something like that?”

Gemma sighed, and poured Harry another shot.

“Brother, I love you to death, but are you listening to yourself? You sound completely crazy.”

“But,” Harry started again, but Gemma put her hand over his mouth.

“Stop talking nonsense Harry. There’s no need to panic now. I mean, if he’s really on his way to Boston, he’s in a plane, and he can’t text you anyway.”

“But he could’ve texted me before he left, couldn’t he? He could’ve, like, let me know or something that he was going to Boston.” Harry offered. Gemma shook her head, and put the post-it in the air again.

“He did,” she concluded. “and you should be on the phone to book a flight to Boston tomorrow.”

“I don’t need to book a flight. Private plane, remember?” Harry smirked.

“Don’t go all superstar on me! Use your uber shuber fancy shmancy private plane to fly to Boston.”

“You really think I should go to Boston?” Harry asked, all frowns.

“Yes. Go to Boston, and talk to him.”

“And what if he’s not there?”

“No ‘what-if’. Then you’ll just pose with some girls from Boston and they’ll be all excited, and then you can fly back home. No biggie.”

“But.”

“You are going to Boston tomorrow.” She placed her finger on Harry’s chest as she said it.

“I am going to Boston tomorrow.” Harry repeated, hesitant.

“Say it like you mean it brother. Come on, show me some spirit! You are going to Boston tomorrow!” Gemma was almost yelling now.

“I am going to Boston tomorrow!” Harry said, his voice full of confidence this time.

Gemma patted him on the back, and poured two shots again. She gave Harry one, and raised her own glass. “I’d like to propose a toast, to the dumbest brother ever!”

“Hear hear!” Harry replied sarcastically, and they both downed the shot.

“Now that we’ve resolved this little confidence issue of yours, you idiot, we’re going to go dancing and get absolutely hammered. Tomorrow you’re going to find this sweet creature named Louis and talk to him. But first, dancing. Let’s go.”

“I’m not really in the mood to go out,” Harry said.

“Seriously? Not in the mood? What are you going to do then? Pout in the couch all night long?”

“No, I just…” Gemma interrupted him again, and pulled him of the bed.

“Look at my outfit. I was going to go dancing anyway, and you’re coming with me. If you stay here, time will seem to stand still. If you’re dancing, time will fly. It’ll be morning before you know it, and then you can fly to Boston.”

“That actually makes sense.”

“Of course. We all know I’m the smarter sibling. University degree and all that.”

“That’s it. You’re going alone.”

“Harry, come on. Dancing! You owe me. I could’ve been dancing an hour already. But I dropped my friends to come here to comfort _you_.”

“Well…”

“You’re coming with me. Get changed, and we’re leaving in five minutes.”

“Heeeey!” Harry whined. “These clothes are just fine.”

“No Harry. We’re going to a club in the city centre of London. Dress up a bit, otherwise we won’t be allowed to enter.”

“Sis, no offence, but I mean… I’m Harry Styles. Who’s going to say I can’t enter their club? Seriously!”

“Seriously?”

“Well, come on.” Harry shrugged.

“As if. Which bouncer listens to One Direction? Arrogance doesn’t suit you baby brother.” Gemma replied in a heartbeat, and she pinched his elbow.

“You sound like Louis.” Harry replied, fondly remembering all of the times Louis had pointed out that he was acting arrogant.

“I like him already. Now, go on, get changed.” Gemma demanded once again, and as per usual, Harry did exactly as she said. Five minutes later they left the house to go clubbing.

Harry wasn’t the best dancer, and that’s one trait he and his sister shared. However, despite their lack of skills, both of them absolutely loved dancing, and when they joined Gemma’s friends, that’s exactly what they did. Gemma’s friends all knew Harry, and didn’t act as if it was a big deal that they were accompanied by a superstar, and he loved them for it. They even helped out: all six girls actually danced around Harry and Gemma the entire night, so no one else would notice the Styles siblings on the dancefloor together.

Gemma and Harry danced together, and she really went all in to keep him distracted the entire evening. When they had entered the club, Gemma had confiscated his mobile ‘for the greater good’ until he was going home. Throughout the night, Gemma’s friends kept on getting them a mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to keep both of them tipsy. Basically, the night could be summarized as this: the two of them dancing like a couple of idiots non-stop.

He left the club through a back entrance at four in the morning, and he was happy he’d called Gemma. She always knew how to cheer him up. However, there was one question that remained.

_Why did Louis leave?_

As much as he had enjoyed the dancing with Gemma and her friends, he hadn’t forgotten about Louis’ sudden departure. But he had made a promise to Gemma. He was going to talk to Louis. He was going to Boston.

 

The following morning his head hurt a bit, and the first thing that he did, was checking his mobile. A few messages, but nothing from Louis. Harry was just as disappointed again as he had been last night. Yet, he fully intended to keep his promise, so he made a few phone calls himself. From then on, things escalated quickly. Half an hour later he was picked up and brought to his plane. An hour later, he was flying towards Boston.

 

Six hours later, Harry Styles arrived in Boston. There was no paparazzi at the airport, since it was an unexpected visit, and the city wasn’t that high-profile to begin with, so he could walk towards the car in peace. However, when Alberto put Harry’s bags in the car, and asked him where to drive him, he didn’t know what to say.

Here he was, with his big words and his fancy promise to Gemma. Boston, USA. But where to go now? Where was Louis?

“Maybe we should just start with a hotel, sir?” Alberto offered.

“Yes. Good idea. A hotel.” Harry felt stupid. He shouldn’t have come here. Boston wasn’t as gigantic as New York or Los Angeles, but if you had no clue where to go, the city was still pretty huge.

“How about the Four Seasons?”

“Sounds great.” Harry replied, even though he didn’t really care. He only cared about finding Louis, and he just didn’t really know what to do next. Going to a hotel was just stalling a bit, but it gave him a purpose nonetheless.

On the road to Boston, Harry turned on his mobile again, since he wasn’t allowed to use it on the plane. You can own a private plane, but still no phones were allowed. He had been a bit disappointed when he first discovered that.

The texts and missed calls started pouring in, and his heart jumped when he saw Louis’ name appear upon the screen. Apparently, he had called Harry two times, and sent him three texts in a timespan of two hours.

_No cloak I fear… Crazy shit happened! I’m in Boston. Didn’t find my note? Xxx_

_BTW, Call me when you wake up. Need to talk to you. Xxx_

_Hey, I just kissed you. And this is crazy. But you’ve got my number. So call me maybe? X_

Relieved washed over Harry. Louis was in Boston. Louis still wanted to talk to him. Louis ended his texts with kisses. All was good in the world again. A huge grin appeared on his face, and he could finally relax. He hadn’t flown across the Atlantic for nothing. Immediately, he called Louis, and the three seconds that it took Louis to answer, seemed to last just as long as his flight to Boston. 

“Harry! You called!” Louis sounded ecstatic.

“Well, yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. So, where are you now?” Harry asked nonchalantly, even though he was driving into the city centre of Boston himself.

“Didn’t you see the texts and the note? I’m in Boston! I’m in the States!”

“Yeah, but could you be a bit more specific? I’ve been to Boston. It’s a big city. Are you near the harbour? In the park? City centre?”

“Well, technically I’m not in Boston. I’m at Harvard actually.” Louis sounded even more excited now.

“Harvard? As in Harvard university?” Harry asked, all impressed. Harvard university was one of the most prestigious universities all around the world. In Harry’s British worldview, nothing could beat Oxford and Cambridge, obviously, but Harvard was a close call.

“Yup. The one and only.”

“Waw Louis, what are you doing there?”

“Long story. Oh crap. Harry, we’re going into another meeting here. I’ll call you back as soon as all of this is over.”

“Okay…” Harry said, a bit disappointed. He still had a few more questions to ask.

“Sorry love. Bye!”

“Bye!” Harry offered, but Louis had already hung up the phone. The disappointment still lingered, however, Harry had also heard Louis’ pet name at the end of their conversation. And, even though they were on a different continent this time, Harry could still count on Louis to make him smile.

_Louis had called Harry ‘love’._

Harry caught himself singing the opening lines of Love is All Around when they arrived at the hotel. “Love love love…” Alberto smiled at him, and Harry just grinned.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Just give me the car keys, if you will?”

“Thanks sir. When do you need me again?”

“Tomorrow maybe, but I’ll let you know. Just enjoy your day, yeah?”

“Okay.” Alberto nodded, and Harry gave him some money. Even though he paid Alberto a monthly salary, he still felt the need to give him something extra. Harry had called him during his free weekend, and yet Alberto hadn’t declined, or complained. Quite the contrary, twenty minutes after Harry’s call he had arrived at his doorstep, ready to accompany him to Boston. No questions asked. The man was a saint, and deserved a treat.

A quick Google search told him that Harvard was just twenty minutes away by car, so his mind went in overdrive on how to approach this. Because, Louis hadn’t asked where Harry was, so he didn’t know. Louis must have assumed that he was still in London, and so he had no idea whatsoever that Harry was in Boston. That gave him an idea.

His idea might not have been the most original one, but to Harry’s mind it sounded like The Best Idea Ever: he was going to surprise Louis at the university.

He checked into his hotel, and briefly considered taking a shower and a quick change of clothes. However, he didn’t know how long Louis’ meeting was going to last, and he didn’t want to risk being too late. So, about thirty seconds after arriving in his room, he was on his way out again. He took the keys Alberto had given him, and drove in the direction of Harvard.

As soon as he had parked the car, he entered the grounds of the university, and was quite impressed by its size. Since Harry and the boys became One Direction before they had graduated secondary school, he had never visited a university. The only exception had been Gemma’s graduation, but apparently the university of Sheffield was peanuts in comparison to this one. There were so many buildings, and different paths to take, and it was all quite confusing. Wembley stadium didn’t have any secrets for Harry Styles, but finding his way around Harvard was a different matter.

He approached a couple passing him by, and tapped the girl’s shoulders. “Excuse me, can I ask you something?” Harry was wearing sunglasses and a hat, so he was hoping no one would recognize him here. University surroundings didn't exactly scream Directioners, did it now? 

_Wrong._

“Oh. My. God. You’re Harry Styles!” The girl exclaimed. The boy gave him an annoyed look, basically saying ‘who-the-hell-are-you-leave-my-girlfriend-alone’ using just his eyes.

“Uhm, yes I am. I was hoping you could help me with something?”

“Sure, anything,” she replied happily, while taking her mobile out of her pocket. “Can I get a selfie in return?”

“Sure. So, uhm, I was wondering where I can find the department of literature? Or poetry?”

“Oh,” the girl started, but she was already taking the selfie without actually paying attention to Harry’s question, and her answer stopped right there. The girl’s boyfriend’s face became even more annoying. Harry thought he could solve this situation in a heartbeat.

“Yeah, I’m looking for my _boyfriend_ , and he studies poetry.” Harry added, making sure to stress the word boyfriend.

Just like that, the guy’s face cleared up. The girl beamed as well, just because Harry had used the word boyfriend. Some girls were just really weird like that. Why would she be happy, if he had a boyfriend? Harry would never fully understand.

“Oh my God, totally! I saw that you came out. That’s just awesome Harry.”

“Thanks. So, the department of literature…?” Harry tried again.

“Oh yeah, you just follow this path, until it looks like you’re leaving campus. There’s a building on the other side of the street, and that’s the department of literature. Everyone who studies poetry should be in there.”

“It’s Quincy Street, by the way,” the boy added.

“Okay, thanks so much! Oh yeah, could I ask for one more favour?”

“Anything!” The girl replied.

“Could you maybe wait until tomorrow to post the selfie? We want to have a quiet evening here in Boston, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh my God, that is so cute! But, yeah, totally. I’ll just, like, keep it for me, and won’t post it until you’re back in the UK.”

“That’d be great. Thanks for understanding, and for helping me out.” Harry said, and he started walking in the direction the couple had pointed him.

“Thanks for the selfie! And congrats on coming out!” The girl yelled, and Harry gave her a thumbs up but kept on walking.

He was a man on a mission. Mission: Louis.

He could basically hear Gemma’s voice in his head saying ‘Sappy McSapson’.

After a short walk, he found the department of literature, and a bench as well. He seated himself there, and so the waiting for Louis began. He was sure that he was going to wait on that bench until Louis would exit the building, and the two of them could talk. Sit and wait, just sit and wait.

Ten seconds later, he got up again. His interior monologue between his little angel and devil began.

What if Louis was in another building?  
It should be this building. Louis was getting a Phd in poetry. If he’s here, he’ll be in the department of literature.

But he said he had to go in a meeting. Meetings can take place in pretty much every university building.  
Yes, but normally it should be this done, right?

What if he was lying on the phone? What if he isn’t in Boston at all? Maybe he was just saying that to get rid of me?  
He called me love on the phone. You don’t say love if you want to get rid of someone.

How long am I going to stay here? What if it gets dark, and he won’t see me because it’s dark?  
Then you’ll just wait inside the building. There will be places to sit as well.

What if Louis thinks I’m like a freaky weirdo? We confessed our feelings, and had sex, and were together for basically 24 hours. Then I followed him across the Atlantic. What kind of person does that?  
He’ll think you really mean it, that you really care. Hopefully, he'll find it adorable. 

 

Harry could feel himself going crazy, just waiting there for Louis, without being absolutely sure that he was inside that building. He was thinking about every possible scenario non-stop, and he wished he could just find a power button for his brain.   
He got up a few times, but sat down again every single time as well. He looked at his phone for about 548226 times, but never longer than five seconds, out of fear of missing Louis exiting the building. He felt completely powerless, bored, and most of all, extremely nervous.

_Louis, where are you?_

Every fifteen minutes, he made a phone call. The first one was to his mum, and later on he called Jeff, Liam, and Niall. He let all of them know where he was, and why, and then he was quick to end the conversation. Again for the same reason, Louis might leave the building, and he might miss it.

_Louis, please be in here._

The next person he called was Gemma, and she couldn’t be more proud that he had travelled all the way to Boston. He filled her in what had been going on so far, and expected more praise. Clearly, that was going to happen. She hung up, saying that he shouldn’t call her before he had any real news about Louis. Kind and friendly as ever… That’s what sisters are for, no?

_Louis, please please please, let your meeting be in this building._

So, an hour later. Same bench, same street, same feelings.

Powerless. He couldn’t do anything besides waiting. He couldn’t call Louis, he couldn’t get far away, he couldn’t get distracted, he couldn’t start playing with his mobile.

Bored. He really wanted to do something, but he couldn’t. Basically, his choices were easy; sit down or stand up, and look at the building. Exciting stuff.

Nervous. How was Louis going to react when he’d see Harry? Happy? Overwhelmed? A bit afraid, since he’d apparently had sex with an overly clingy person who’d travel across the globe for him?

Harry looked up at the sky, and saw that dusk had arrived. Ever so faintly, he could see the moon already, even though the sun was still setting. It was evening, and within an hour it would be completely dark. How long could he stay here?

_Louis, please._

“Hiya Harry. Or should I say, Stalker Styles?” Louis said. And all of the sudden, there he was, standing in front of him, as if nothing had happened. Louis Tomlinson, in all his glory, and Harry still thought he was the sweetest creature he’d ever seen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to keep you waiting, we had an exchange week and I was abroad for a week on a schooltrip. Fun fun fun, but no time to write.  
> More shenagigans soon, now that they're reunited ;)


	17. Coincidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Louis just disappeared and ignored Harry. Obviously, Harry was all sad, but Gemma gave him the advice to travel to Boston to go and found Louis, to go and talk to him.  
> And, what are the odds, he actually found him!

“Hiya Harry. Or should I say, Stalker Styles?” Louis had his regular grin plastered upon his face, and seemed genuinely pleased to see Harry there. However, he didn’t show any sign whatsoever of even being remotely surprised. Weird. Harry just crossed a few thousand miles by plane to get here, totally announced. But hey, why would Louis be surprised to see him?

So, thanks to Louis’ smile, it seemed as if his emotions hit a short circuit. Until two seconds ago, Harry had been feeling bored, and hadn’t known what to do. And just like that, in an instant, his emotions seemed to explode. Seeing Louis smile like that made him feel alive again. An emotional overload, if you will.

He was so glad that he was at the right building, in the right city. So glad that he had listened to Gemma. His crazy risk to spontaneously travel across the globe had paid off.

He was so relieved to see Louis talking to him as if nothing had happened, as if they still were okay. Despite Louis’ trip to the other side of the Atlantic, and ignoring Harry for almost 24 hours.

He was so impressed by Louis’ beauty. He really was the most beautiful man Harry had ever seen.

However, his main emotion right now, was anger.

Harry was angry. He was mad. He was pissed.

Because, seriously, who does what Louis did? Who just leaves after spending a day and night with a person you just confessed your love to? Who sets up a date for dinner in the evening, and then just disappears and leaves only a Post-it? Who ignores this person completely, no texts, no calls, nothing? What kind of a person does that?

So, despite Harry’s initial relief that Louis was standing here in front of him, he couldn’t quite reciprocate Louis’ breezy tone, or laugh with his stalker joke. He wanted some answers.

“Louis!” Harry started, his voice filled with anger, “What the hell are you doing here? What is going on? Why did you just leave? Wha-“

“Hi to you too.” Louis interrupted him, rolling his eyes. “As much as I enjoy being yelled at after a long day, I’ve got to cut your interrogation short I fear. Give me a second, will you?” Louis turned around, and starting walking towards entrance of the building. Harry didn’t intend on leaving Louis once again, so he followed him, and Louis turned around.

“You’re going to follow me? Styles, you’re taking this stalker thingy way too seriously,” he chuckled.

“I’m not laughing.” Harry remarked. “I’m not leaving until I get some answers.”

They had crossed the street, and a tall slim brunette just walked out of the building.

“Hi Louis,” she started, and then her eye fell upon Harry. “Shit. Is that Harry Styles? Oh God, oh God oh God, I’m such a huge fan. I mean, I love your music. And your style. And basically everything about you.”

Louis rolled his eyes again, and patted her upon the back.

“Chill El, don’t forget to breathe love.”

_Love?_

“Louis, chill? Are you for real? This. Is. Harry. Styles.” While she slowly uttered the words, she pointed at Harry as if he was not there.

Harry was a bit confused. He was mad at Louis, he wanted some answers, and now he discovered that Louis was here with this gorgeous woman, who apparently was a One Direction fan. He didn’t quite know what to make of all of this, so he just smiled politely. Why was Louis here, in Boston, with this woman?

“Right, Harry, let me introduce you to gibberish talking lady.”

“By all means, please do.” Harry said. His emotional rollercoaster continued, and he was starting to wonder if he should add jealousy to his list.

“This is Eleanor Calder. Professor Calder actually. She was the professor I was writing my PhD for, and she works at King’s College in London, where she teaches poetry, and researches modern British poets. In normal circumstances, she’s a fairly serious lady, but apparently not so much when she meets boyband members.”

_Ooooh. She’s Louis’ professor._

Suddenly, some things were starting to make sense. Why Louis went back to the building to meet her. Why they were at a university. Yet, there were still a lot of questions that were left unanswered.

“Pleased to meet you,” Eleanor started. “I’m so sorry for going all fangirl on you, but we just had an extremely long day, filled with boring meetings and negotiations. I’m dead tired, and all of the sudden Harry Styles is standing in front of me. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, don’t apologize. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“Thanks, but I do. I totally kidnapped Louis, You know, he told me all about the two of you,” she beamed, and then she actually _winked_ at him.

Harry didn’t really know how to reply to that, and he could feel himself blushing. Luckily Louis jumped to his rescue.

“Professor Calder, you’re making our lovely Harry uncomfortable here. See, you might think he’s all confident like a real superstar, but that’s just an extra layer of arrogance. In reality, he’s got the confidence of a teenage girl.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile as soon as Louis said the word ‘arrogance’. Louis returned the smile, as if it was their own little secret. And it was basically, since two nights ago Louis had confessed he had always thought that arrogance was hot.

“Oh dear. It seems I’ll have to apologize twice in just one minute. I am so sorry mister Styles!” Eleanor said. Again, before Harry had a chance to say something, Louis replied.

“And now you’ve gone and called him mister? I’m sorry professor, but you’re just making it worse. He hates being called mister. Makes him feel old.”

“Oh dear, I can’t win here, can I? Once more, sorry Harry.”

This time, Harry did answer her. “That’s okay.”

“Let me make it up to you. Louis and I were just going to get some dinner to celebrate. You want to join us? My treat!”

Eleanor seemed very excited about her own idea, but Harry really just wanted to talk to Louis. Not with anyone else present there. Especially not with Louis’ professor. Although it seemed that they had a fun vibe between the two of them.

“I’d love to, but would it be okay if I talked to Louis first? Like, privately?”

“Uhm, sure. I’ll just go and wait at that bench on the other side of the street,” and she pointed at Harry’s bench.

“Oh yes, it’s a really comfy one. Enjoy.” Harry said knowingly, and the professor gave him a confused look as she crossed the street.

As soon as Eleanor had taken her mobile out of her bag, and was no longer looking at them, Louis put his arms around Harry. He started singing:

“Reunited and it feels so good…”

Harry, on the other hand, didn’t feel like singing a duet about reuniting. Quite the contrary. He wanted to push Louis away, but the latter was hugging Harry as if his life depended on it. He continued his song.

‘Reunited because we understood, there’s one perfect fit. And, sugar, this one is it. We both are so excited because we’re reunited, hey hey.”

A warm and fuzzy feeling came over him, and Harry wanted to give in to the hug. Yet, he chose to be strong, and not to cave too quickly. He pushed Louis away, and held his own hand to Louis’ chest.

“Louis, for a minute, can you just… Like, no singing, no hugging, and no reuniting just yet. What the hell happened?” Harry demanded, and he placed his hands on his hips, to emphasise that he wanted some answers.

“Mister Styles used the world ‘hell, that’s what happened. Such foul language. Where are your manners?” Louis pretended to be all offended.

“Louis, for God’s sake. Talk to me.” Harry sighed.

“Sorry Styles, but it’s honestly so much fun to rile you up. I’m kind of enjoying the little question-answer-bit we’ve got going on. It’s quickly becoming our thing, isn’t it?”

“You’re not wondering what I’m doing here then? Like, not even a little bit?” Harry asked.

“Very much so. But, unlike you, I’m a patient boy, and I’m quite sure you’ll tell me in no time,” Louis smiled, and raised his brows.

“Oh God. Why are you doing this? I literally can’t understand what’s going on!”

“Shush love. You know me, okay? Have some faith in me. I’ll tell you. Not a song this time, but I’ll tell you.”

“What are you trying to say Louis? Why are we standing here?” 

Before Harry could finish his question, Louis’ lips were on Harry’s. Without even thinking about it, Harry returned the kiss. It felt natural. They were kissing, and Harry’s worries disappeared in a heartbeat. He felt Louis’ hands playing with his hair, and it was paradise all over again. Ice cream, chocolate, cinnamon swirls, these were all things that Harry loved, but nothing had ever tasted as delicious as Louis.

Louis’ hands left his hair, and cupped his cheeks. He felt Louis pull away, but Harry wasn’t quite ready to give up on the feeling, and he kept his eyes closed. His resolution to not cave too quickly had disappeared from his mind completely.

“I still don’t understand,” he whispered. He really didn’t, but kissing Louis felt so wonderful, that as soon as Louis’ lips had touched his, he forgot all his questions. Kissing Louis made him feel so amazing, that he even forgave him for leaving.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Louis said.

“You are?” Harry asked, surprised. Louis pinched his cheeks to grab his attention, and Harry opened his eyes. Louis’ face was so incredibly close, and once again Harry thought that this was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.

“Harry, how can you say that? Why would you even doubt that? Of course I’m happy that you are here!” And to confirm his statement, he kissed Harry again, a slow kiss on his mouth, with both eyes open.

“But you left…” Harry began, and then Louis’ lips were on his again. Harry opened his mouth, and he felt Louis’ tongue taking charge. They kissed for another minute, before Louis stopped again.

“I had to. You’re here now, aren’t you? That’s what matters, love.”

This time, Harry kissed Louis. Just lips, but strong kisses. Louis kissed him back firmly every single time. It felt so good, so good.

“I. Can’t. Stop. Kissing. You.” Harry sighed, in between kisses. 

“Good. Don’t. Want. You. To.” Louis answered, copying Harry’s kisses.

“Mmmm.” Harry moaned. Louis really seemed to have a degree from Hogwarts, because he was able to put a spell on Harry. He was just enchanted.

“Look who’s moaning now!” Louis chuckled softly, and he sucked Harry’s neck. The latter threw his head backwards to give him more access, and absolutely loved it. Louis sucked and kissed, and quickly moved on to Harry’s earlobe. Another moan escaped Harry’s mouth.

“Stop Louis. You’re going to make me hard in the middle of the street here,” Harry admitted shyly. “Your professor is right there. Stop it.”

“Ooh, well superstar. Aren’t you a bad boy,” Louis whispered in his ear. “Maybe I should punish you this evening.”

Harry, for the second time in a few minutes, pushed Louis away. He quickly made a resolution. This time, he was going to be strong. This time, no kissing, no hugging, before he got a few answers out of this very sexy boy.

“As much as I love where this conversation is going, I need some answers first. What happened?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? I’m getting a new job at this university. Hardvard university. Just, you know, only like on of the fanciest universities on the planet!” Louis’ smile appeared again as soon as he mentioned the word ‘job’.

“On which planet was that supposed to be obvious?”

“This one Harry, keep up. Let’s try that again, and this time you better give me some kind of dignified answer, you know, pretend to be all impressed!” Louis said, and he took a deep breath before he continued, “So Harry, I’m getting a new job at this university.”

“Really? A new job? Just like that?” Harry asked, jerking his head to the side and raising his eyebrows.

“Jeez, that reply wasn’t much better as the first one. Thanks for the vote of confidence by the way,” his smile fading as he put his hands on his hips. “What? You don’t think I’d ever get a new job? Or are you going to get me fired here as well?”

“No, of course not Louis. That’s… That’s great! I mean, a new job, so quickly!”

“Well, it’s not _that_ quick. I mean, it has taken me a couple of weeks. You might remember that even though you went to work every day, I just stayed at home.”

“I do recall something like that yeah. Still doesn’t explain how you got a new job though.”

“Well, that’s where professor Calder comes in actually. I owe it all to her.” Louis pointed to the other side of the street, where the professor was still looking at her mobile.

“Okay.” Harry nodded, and went on, “Now that I’ve finally convinced you to talk, care to comment upon the fact that you totally ignored my messages?”

“Ah, there’s my insecure superstar again!” Louis chuckled. “Come on, you can figure this one yourself, can’t you?”

“Uhm, not really. I called you, I texted you, and you just didn’t reply. I was afraid you weren’t going to dump me or something.”

“You’re smarter than that Styles. Do the math.”

Harry just took a deep breath, and looked at Louis. He honestly didn’t understand why Louis wouldn’t just answer the question.

“Why can’t you just answer me?” Harry pouted. Despite the fact that he was taller than Louis, he tried to make himself smaller, and to look all cute and innocent.

“Love, this is what we do. I provide riddles, you try to solve them, you get all frustrated when you can’t, so I kiss you, and then you forget all about it.”

“This is what we do?” Harry repeated, voice annoyed at Louis’ refusal to talk, “You’re making it sound as if we’re a married couple. We just slept together. Twice.”

“I’m quite aware of that. Yet, before we get to the sex part, we should play some more games, don’t you think?” Louis smirked. He was challenging Harry, and Harry both hated it and loved it at the same time. Louis was so unpredictable. Here he was, ready to have a serious conversation, and yet the conversation had taken an unexpected turn. Which was to be expected, in hindsight.

Everything with Louis had been unexpected, from their first meeting until now.

“I thought we were passed that phase. I mean, I said I was in love with you. You said it was mutual. So, I thought, like, no more games.” Harry tried, but his voice carried his uncertainty.

“No more games?” Louis took a step closer and tapped his finger on Harry’s forehead. “No games, seriously Styles? That’d be so boring. I like games. Especially with you.”

“Why thank you,” Harry said sarcastically, and he pretended to take a bow. “However, I was under the impression that lyrics were our thing. If anything is our thing, it’s got to be lyrics, no? Not games.”

“Well, I tried that. I started singing the all-time classic ‘Reuited’, and you just ignored it. So, lyrics are not our thing. Your fault.”

“My fault?”

“Your fault entirely.” Louis nodded sternly.  

“Can we… I don’t know, can we just start this entire conversation again?” Harry asked. “I’d like to try again. I think we can do better.”

“What, you mean like ‘Cut!’, and now it’s time for take two?” Louis looked at him as if he was completely crazy.

“That’s exactly what I mean. This conversation makes no sense. Before you said anything, I was just bored, and anxious that you might not be here in this building. And then I saw you, and I was relieved that you were here. And glad to see you again. And mad, because you’ve been ignoring me. And right now, you’ve gotten me horny again without even trying, and I’m so confused because this conversation is going nowhere. I mean, I’m feeling all of these other emotions as well and I… I’d like to try again. Do this conversation again.”

A normal answer might be the correct reply to such a heart-warming and sincere plea, but Louis Tomlinson is not a normal person. Instead, he started humming a beat that Harry recognized as a song by The Chemical Brothers. His eyes lit up, and so did Louis’. They just looked at each other, and yelled:

“Do it again!”

“See,” Louis smirked, “never boring like this. Babatadada!”

“Do it again!” Harry yelled alone this time, and Louis smiled.

“Babatadada,” Louis sang again, and he started dancing on the pavement.

“Do it again,” Harry yelled again, and he joined Louis’ dance. They both put their hands above their heads, and waved them as if they were standing in the crowd at a dance festival. Both boys were smiling.

“I love it when you go all crazy like that.”

“Likewise. Never boring indeed.”

Suddenly, Louis took Harry in his arms once more, and kissed him upon his cheek. His face became all serious, and their crazy time ended.

“I wasn’t ignoring you sweetie. Let me explain.” Louis put his arms on Harry’s back in a casual way, but it was a hug nonetheless.

“I’m all ears.” Harry whispered. His hands were hanging awkwardly next to his body because Louis was holding him, but he wasn’t planning on returning the hug before he got a satisfying explanation.

And so Louis started talking. “I heard professor Calder’s message when I was checking all of the missed calls and texts, you know, just after you left. She talked about a poetry seminar in Boston she was going to attend this weekend, and the possibility of a new job for me with one of her contacts here. I called her back immediately, and she told me she was on her way to Heathrow already, but she added her offer still stood. If I just made it to the airport on time, I could still join her. That sounded brilliant, right? So I quickly packed up all of my things at your place, and put a Post-it up the door, since I figured my mobile might not make it. I took a taxi to the airport. Obviously, my mobile’s battery was nearly dead after listening to all of these messages, so it actually died while I was in the taxi texting you. I couldn’t charge it on the plane, could I now? So, I thought I’d charge it when we landed. However, this is the USA, and they’ve got different sockets and all. We left to the university pretty much the second we landed, and so I’ve been in here all day, wanting to charge my mobile, but I simply couldn’t. Otherwise I would have called you immediately. You know that, right?”

“Uhm, sure,” Harry said, hesitantly.

“My plan was to get one of those international socket charger thingies, and charge it as soon as I got to the hotel this evening. And then, to text you when the battery was back at 1%.”

“Oooh…,” he cooed, and he considered Louis’ explanation to be satisfying. Very satisfying indeed, and so he put his arms around Louis to return the hug.

“Happy now?”

“Very.” Harry replied, and he kissed Louis upon his both cheeks. “Thanks for the elaborate explanation.”

“Anytime. Do you still want to do the conversation again? Take two?”

“Nope. I just would like to go and visit this hotel room you were talking about.”

“Ah yes, the infamous hotel room where I was going to charge my mobile?”

“That particular one indeed. I thought we might engage in some other activities there as well?” Harry offered, and he tried to put on a sexy face.

“What activities did you have in mind then superstar? Hide and seek? It’s a fairly big hotel, so I think that could occupy us for quite a while.” Louis deadpanned. Harry cackled, and was genuinely happy to be in Louis’ company again. They always had so much fun together.

“Hotel, motel, Holiday In.” Harry sang.

“Pitbull? You disgust me Styles. I thought your taste was more sophisticated than that.”

“In men, yes. In music, no.” Now it was Harry’s time to deadpan.

“Jeez, that’s just lame. So cheesy. No sex for you tonight!” Louis declared sternly, and he put his finger into the air to strengthen the threat.

“But I travelled the world and seven seas for you,” Harry pouted. “Surely that will lead to some kind of reward, no? Don’t you want to use me? Don’t you want to abuse me?”

“Ooh, kudos for your lovely Eurythmics mash up Styles. However, your sense of geography is terrible, because there are no seven seas between London and Boston. Therefore, your reward is quite basic I fear, and no form of use or abuse shall be involved.” Louis stated calmly, yet quickly. He never seemed to miss a beat.

“Spill the beans on this mysterious reward you speak of, Tomlinson.” Harry frowned, although he couldn't hide the smile upon his face.

“Don’t ever call me that Styles, I’ve told you that before. Your reward is that you get to accompany me and professor Calder to dinner, and that’ll be that. No dessert for you, because you just called me by my last name.”

Just like that, Louis strode to the bench where professor Calder was still sitting. She had given up playing on her mobile, and right now she was reading a book, using her mobile as a light.

Harry knew he had lost, and there was no way of getting out of this dinner with Louis and the professor. However, he was going to make it the quickest dinner ever. The sooner she was gone and he had Louis to himself, the better.

 

 

An hour later, the three of them were seated in a fancy restaurant called Harvest, within walking distance from the university. Harry had proposed to go and get some fast food, but the professor had just snorted, and stated she had made reservations in a sophisticated place nearby.

 

The professor raised her glass of champagne. “I propose a toast, for our talented Louis here, who got a new position at Harvard. A new job that will mean that all of his research from the previous two years won’t have been for nothing. Here’s to you Louis!”

“Hear hear!” Harry joined in.

The three of them toasted, and tasted their champagne.

“Waw, this is really good stuff,” Harry remarked.

“Well, you’re the one who’s used to champagne, so we’ll just have to take your word for it.” Louis replied.

“Yes, you know I tend to bathe in champagne at least once a month,” Harry replied sarcastically. “It really cleanses your skin superbly.”

“Really?” Eleanor asked.

“No professor, he’s just being his sarcastic self. I’ll raise my hand whenever he’s being sarcastic, and then you’ll be able to keep up,” Louis stated, while he raised his own hand. Harry started laughing, and Eleanor just looked confused from Harry to Louis and back again.

She had just asked Harry to call her Eleanor, since she wasn’t a professor to him. Louis, however, kept on calling her professor, since he’d done so since the first day they had met at university several years ago. It was a bit of a weird situation.

“I’m going to have the salmon,” Eleanor announced after having the studied the menu for about five minutes. “Do you think we should take an appetizer as well, or just a main course?”

Harry’s opinion was clear: just a main course. The sooner Louis and he could leave, the better.

“Just a main course please. Since I’m currently still unemployed, once course will suffice. This isn’t the cheapest restaurant now, is it.” Louis said.

“Louis, you know I can pay for you,” Harry offered, being all polite as usual, and forgetting his own resolution to get out of the restaurant as soon as possible.

“Wait, so you want two courses then? That means that we’ll be here quite a while, you know.” Louis stated casually. He raised his eyebrows and stared at Harry. Then he winked. Louis _winked_.

“One course it is.” Harry said. Louis’ wink had made it perfectly clear that they were on the same track: get-out-of-this-restaurant-as-soon-as-possible.

During dinner, professor Calder explained how she had been able to get Louis a job. Louis had been the first researcher worldwide to write a PhD on lyrics and poetry, but soon, similar topics had been used by others at different universities. At Harvard, a similar study was being conducted by a girl, Danielle. She got pregnant a few months ago, and her pregnancy hadn’t gone without difficulties. Normally, she would have continued to work until a few weeks before giving birth, but the baby had arrived three months too early. Danielle couldn’t come to work anymore, and wouldn’t return for another six months. The professor Danielle had been working for had called professor Calder, to ask about Louis, and that’s how the new position was created.

Louis’ job was pretty straightforward. First and foremost, he would finish Danielle’s work, but he was allowed to add his own findings from his own research to it and create a shared publication. The academic articles and the PhD that would be published, would carry both of their names. However, Louis’ name would always be the second one, since his name had lost some of its validity in the academic world since his tv-show debacle with Harry. Still, it was a job, it was at a university, and he would still get a PhD-title in the end. Louis would have to be crazy to decline it.

Eleanor had explained the entire story strictly to Harry as if Louis wasn’t there, even though it was about him. Harry thought it was a bit peculiar, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. The only thing he was paying attention to, was his watch. Time was going so so slowly. He was in desperate need of some alone-time with Louis, especially after their snogging-fest earlier.  

“So, what about dessert?” Eleanor asked Harry. “Still room for something sweet? Or do celebrities like you never indulge in delicious treats?”

_No no no._

“Nope. My personal trainer would be very disappointed if I ate a dessert. I mean, he’d make me run like 5k extra for a week.” Harry said, and Louis slowly raised his hand.

“Really?” Eleanor asked seriously, giving the impression of believing Harry’s ridiculous lie. Louis gave Harry another wink while he was still waving his hand above his head, which she still didn’t spot. “I didn’t know you had a personal trainer.”

“Well, it’s not something I advertise, obviously. I want most people, especially the fans, to think that _this_ ,” and he paused to gesture at his body, “happens all naturally without any effort whatsoever.”

“Right. Yes, that makes perfect sense,” Eleanor agreed. Louis waved once more, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Tea or coffee perhaps? Or a nightcap?”

_Hell no._

“Although that is a tempting offer, I’m going to pass. I’m feeling a bit jetlagged, and I’d like to get some sleep.” Harry announced.

“Of course, yes, you must be exhausted,” she nodded understandingly, and Louis just gave Harry a thumbs-up.

“Now, I’d like to pay for all three of us. You were so kind to invite me on such short notice, the least I could day is pay the bill,” Harry offered. Normally he always spoke slowly, but for some reason this sentence came out at a very high pace.

“Oh, well, that’s very generous of you, but it’s not necessary. The university will pay me back, this is a business-trip after all.” Eleanor said firmly.

“Professor, please. Let the millionaire superstar pay our dinner. It’s not as if he can’t afford it.” Louis suggested.

“Yes, Eleanor, my treat.”

“Well, if you insist…” Eleanor started, but she got interrupted by Harry right away.

“I do. So, I’ll go and pay at the counter, you two can go and get our jackets already. I’ll meet you outside.” Harry jumped up, and left them before Louis or Eleanor could reply.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was in a hurry!” Eleanor remarked, frowning, while Harry walked away, and he could hear Louis snort.

_The sooner, the better._

A few minutes later, they were standing outside. Eleanor was oblivious to Harry and Louis’ hurry to get away from her.

“So, it was nice to meet you Harry Styles. Very kind of you to treat us to dinner. I’m sorry for my fangirl moment earlier this evening.”

“Really, it’s all absolutely okay.” Harry assured her. Louis was standing next to Harry, his hands in his pockets, and balancing on his feet.

“Well, Louis and I both have a room at a hotel near the university, so we’re just going to walk back. Where are you staying?” Eleanor asked.

“I’ve got a hotel in the city centre.”

“Wait a minute!” Louis interrupted. “Professor, as lovely as this dinner was,” Louis lifted his hand above his head while he said it, and Harry had to control himself otherwise he would burst out laughing, “I’m not going to the hotel you booked. I’m going with Harry.”

“But, your room has been paid for by the university!” Eleanor replied, shock clearly present in her voice.

“I’ll gladly reimburse it.” Harry offered. “Double it. Triple it. Whatever you want.”

“Uhm, okay…,” she started, but got interrupted again immediately.

“I don’t need to be here tomorrow anyway. Your seminar continues, but I was just here to arrange the job specifics.”

“Yes, I guess you’re right about that,” she hesitated, “Okay, then I’ll see you…”

“On Monday professor. You’ll see me on Monday. And thanks so much for recommending me for this job. I’m forever grateful.”

“Well, it was the board’s idea to fire you after your little telly-stunt, not mine. So I’m glad that you’ll still be able to get your PhD-title.”

“Still, thanks again. I can’t stress that enough.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “You two are really cute by the way. Enjoy your time together.”

“We will. Have a lovely evening.” Harry said politely, and then he took Louis’ hand in his, and he started walking in the opposite direction. He could hear Eleanor yelling something like ‘you too’ but he just didn’t care anymore. It was officially time for alone-time.

_Yay!_

The two of them walked together, and smiled at one another. They didn’t say anything, but just started walking faster and faster. When they turned a corner, Harry started singing: “I think we’re alone now…” Louis joined in after that first line.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone around. I think we’re alone now, The beating of your heart is the only sound…”

After this final line, Louis stopped, and pulled Harry’s hand, making him stop as well.

“C’mere. I’m not so sure about this beating of your heart. Let me check.” Louis said, and he placed his hand upon Harry’s chest, pretending to be searching his heartbeat.

“That’s just a lame excuse to touch me, isn’t it?”

“Yup. Totally worked, didn’t it?” Louis chuckled, and he placed his other hand on Harry’s bum. “Now, I believe you said something about a hotel room? How can we get there so I can get my hands on you without these incredibly sexy clothes?”

Harry gave Louis a kiss upon his earlobe, and whispered in his ear, “Now it’s your turn to be patient darling.”

“Mean.” Louis pouted, and he cupped Harry’s cheeks. He licked his lips slowly. “Please, take me to your hotel room, and let me fuck you. I’ll make it so good for you. You’ve been sitting there all evening, acting friendly and polite towards my fucking professor for God’s sake. You deserve a reward. Let me fuck you.”

“You are so ridiculously cute and hot at the same time. How is that even possible?”

“I’m not cute. Hot, yes. Cute, no.” Louis got on his toes to appear taller, but Harry was still towering above him.

“Oh, but you are though. So cute. So incredibly cute.”

“Just wait until I’m fucking you. Let’s see if you’ll still think I’m cute then.”

“Good idea. Let’s.” Harry said, and he hailed a taxi.

 

 

After about five minutes of kissing in the taxi, Louis pulled away. Harry whined for a second, but Louis’ words that followed made him feel all warm and loved again.

“I can’t believe that you’re here. That you found me. Just because I wrote a silly Post-it.”

“Not so silly apparently,” Harry suggested, and he kissed Louis’ neck.

“Of all the gin joints in the world in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,” Harry recited.

“She?” Louis asked, as he pushed Harry off his neck, and raising his brows.

“I was quoting a film, you uncultured goof.” Harry chuckled, and moved over to kiss Louis’ neck again.

“Uncultured goof? I just got a job researching and comparing lyrics and poetry at an Ivy League university. How on earth could you call me uncultured? Tss.” Louis sounded unimpressed.

“Okay, no more films. I’ll stick to just quoting lyrics. Gotcha.”

“Thanks love, but really, Harry. Consider it for a second. What are the odds? Of you even travelling to Boston after having the read the Post-it? Of you finding me in this city? Of you finding me at the university even, because it’s huge!”

“I was very,” Harry paused, still kissing Louis’ neck, “motivated.”

“Yes. I’m getting that. I’m trying to be honest and sincere here, you twat.” Louis pinched him, and Harry stopped his kissing efforts.

“Heeey,” he frowned, “those were some of my best foreplay skills, and you just ruined them.”

“Styles, shut up. I’m trying to thank you.”

“You can thank me by giving me a blowjob,” Harry suggested, but Louis pinched him once again. “No, I get what you’re trying to say. It is kind of crazy though. But, since you wrote me a song and all, I thought it was time for me to return the favour, and do some kind of crazy thing to declare that I’m very much in love with you.”

“Well, you definitely succeeded.”

“I sure did.”

“Nobody is going to believe this when I tell them. Who would fly across the Atlantic because you thought I might be here, and you might be able to find me?”

“Perks of dating a millionaire superstar I guess?” Harry shrugged.

“Arrogance Styles. Seriously. When are you going to learn?”

The taxi came to a halt, and Harry recognized his hotel.

 

 

 

Five minutes later, Harry opened the door of his room. Once they were inside, Louis was all over Harry again, and the kissing festival started all over again.

“God, I never knew just kissing could already feel so good.” Louis murmured in between kisses.

“Mmm,” Harry agreed. He slowly pushed Louis, so the two of them were walking to the bed. Once there, Harry stopped and grabbed Louis closer.

“You are absolutely beautiful, you know that, right?” Harry asked.

“You are too. I mean, the entire dinner I was thinking that you looked so hot.”

“Hot?”

“Yes, hot. And pretty. And cute. Oh so cute.”

“No Lou, you’re the cute one.”

“Maybe we’re just a cute couple,” Louis suggested.

“Maybe we’re a hot couple as well,” Harry replied, and he pushed Louis on to the bed. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Louis sat up on his elbows, and checked Harry out from head to toe.

“May I suggest we start with a strip show. I’m already lying on the bed, so it makes sense for you to take your clothes off. I’ll just lay here, and enjoy the view.”

“You want me to strip for you?” Harry asked.

“Well, I’d like for you to get naked. If that were to be combined with you slowly dancing and looking at me all hot yet bashful, that would be absolutely fine.” Louis said.

“I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I must really like you.” Harry confessed, and he slowly started to take off his clothes. First, shoes and socks, because there was nothing sexy about that. Louis copied the motion, and in the meantime, Harry moved on to his jumper, and his t-shirt. Louis was just staring at him now, his mouth open. This gave Harry confidence to act a bit cheekier, and he slowly palmed himself while licking his lips. Then he turned around, and started unbuttoning his pair of jeans. He turned his head, and looked straight into Louis’ eyes.

“Turn around love. I want to see you. All of you.” Louis demanded, and Harry did as he was told. He stripped down his jeans, and then he was standing in nothing but his boxer briefs.

When he had started his little strip act, he had felt a bit bashful indeed, and his original plan was to stop when he was standing in his underwear. However, now that he could see the influence his moves had on Louis, he continued. Louis was simply staring at him, and his face was all hot and bothered. He looked absolutely gorgeous, yet horny at the same time. He had already placed his own hand upon his cock as well, even though he was still wearing all of his clothes. Harry revelled in the fact that he was causing that.

Harry turned away from Louis again, just to tease him a bit, and slowly took off his bowers. He took his own cock in his hand, completely hard, and turned around to face Louis again.

“Fuck, I,… Harry, you are so fucking hot,” Louis panted. “You just completely turned me on in literally less than two minutes.”

“As you can see,” Harry chuckled, while stroking his own cock, ”I’m quite hot as well. Very much in the mood.”

“I’m so in the mood too.” Louis smiled, “but still so many clothes.”

“Let me help you with that,” Harry offered, and he crawled upon the bed. He took off Louis’ jumper and t-shirt in one quick motion.

“God, Louis, you’re sexy. I want to fuck you tonight. Please let me fuck you,” Harry begged, while taking off Louis’ trousers.

“You want to fuck me?” Louis raised his eyebrows. “That’s new.”

“Yeah, I mean,” Harry paused, “I’ve been thinking about it all night. I want to feel what it’s like. Please let me.”

“Seriously Styles, are you actually begging me?” Louis smiled, and stroked Harry’s face. “There’s absolutely no need for that. I’d be happy to let you fuck me.”

“Fuck Louis, like, really?”

“Fuck me, yeah. You are so hot. It will feel so good to have you inside of me.”

Their lips crashed again, and they kissed lazily for another few minutes. Harry’s hands were all over Louis’ body, and he stroked every part within his reach. Louis’ hands were playing with Harry’s hair, slowly pulling it whenever Harry kept his hands in one place for too long, urging him to let his hands slide everywhere. Touch every single part.

“This feels so good. You feel so good, Louis.”

“Good? Understatement my love. This feels great.”

“Amazing.”

“Wonderful”

“Fantastic.”

“Okay, I’m running out of synonyms here,” Louis sighed sarcastically. “We’re trying to have sex here, not trying to write a thesaurus.”

“You ran out? I thought you were supposed to be the cultural one here,” Harry said mockingly, while slowly kissing Louis’ stomach and working his way down. When he arrived at Louis’ cock, he took his time to circle it with kisses. Louis just moaned, and Harry started sucking instead. “You know, cultural. Studying poetry and lyrics.” More sucking. “You’re supposed to be the eloquent one.”

“Shut up. Just… Just get on with it, please.”

“Get on with what?” Harry asked with an angelic voice. He looked up at Louis and gave him an innocent smile. “I’m just kissing you a bit, here and there.”

“Styles, you are too much,” Louis said, his voice a combination of laughing and moaning. “Just… Suck me. Please,” Louis panted.

“Well, since you said ‘please’, who am I to ignore your wishes?” Harry asked, and he took Louis’ cock in his mouth. Immediately, he felt Louis arch his back to give him more acces.

He heard Louis’ moans getting louder, and he let his hands slide over his thighs, gently pressing in his fingers here and there. He felt Louis’ hands in his hair, and he sucked on, bobbing his head a just bit quicker.

“Harry, don’t stop, just… Fuck.”

Harry was encouraged by Louis’ words, and started playing with Louis’ balls. More moans came out of his mouth, and he slowly moved his hips towards Harry.

“Going to come soon. Gotta--.” Louis moaned. Harry had a bit of difficulty to breathe, but he was oh so motivated. He was going to make Louis come, and he wasn’t going to let go off his cock until he did. He sucked some more, and kept on playing with his balls.

Louis retreated a bit his body a bit, in order to not come in Harry’s mouth. A friendly gesture, however, coming in his mouth was exactly what Harry wanted. So he kept on sucking greedily, and grabbed Louis’ ass to encourage him to move his hips forward, and to freely fuck his mouth. Thankfully, Louis got the hint and started doing that, Harry looked up for a second, and saw Louis tilting his head backwards, his eyes closed, and his mouth wide open.

“Oh my God,” Louis gasped. Harry loved every thrust Louis gave him.

“Harry,” he sighed. Harry felt him come in his mouth, and he swallowed happily, while keeping his eyes on Louis’ face. Louis was pretty all the time, but when he hit his orgasm, he glowed. Harry loved watching him enjoy himself, especially since he knew he was the once causing Louis to glow like that.

“Oh God, that was…” Louis breathed heavily, and pulled Harry back up. He kissed him, and Harry knew that he could taste himself as they kissed.

“You’re so gorgeous when you come babe,” Harry said, voice filled with admiration.

“You’re so gorgeous all the time. Especially when you strip for me. That was, like, so hot.”

“You fucked my mouth. Now _that_ was hot.”

“Okay okay. This isn’t a competition or something. Let’s just accept the fact that we’re both hot.” Louis chuckled. His breathing was slowly calming down, and Harry’s hands were sliding over his chest. He just loved touching Louis.

“Hot stuff.” Harry confessed.

“Looking for some hot stuff, baby this evening. I want some hot stuff, baby, tonight.” Louis sang.

“Looks like you found it then.” Harry replied, his face all smug, and he gestured at his own body.

Louis didn’t reply, but just pinched Harry’s nipples.

“Auw!’

Louis still didn’t say anything. He placed his hand upon Harry’s bum, and left it there for a few seconds. Harry seemed to have forgotten the pinch, and started caressing Louis’ chest again. And at that exact moment, Louis smacked Harry’s bum. Hard.

“Auw!” Harry yelled for a second time. He raised his brows, and stared at Louis. “What was that for?”

“Arrogance as per usual, Mister hot stuff,” Louis said ironically, and he smacked Harry again.

“Auw. And _ow_ ,” Harry paused, and placed his own hand on his bum as well. “Is it strange that I both like it, and hate it?”

“Definitely.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I mean… The moment I just smacked your arse for the first time, I was a bit shocked myself. I don’t know where that came from. Never done that before.”

“Smack that,” Harry chuckled, and Louis did as he was told. Harry's response was a combination of a moan and a grin. 

“Smack that, give me some more,” Harry repeated, and he rapped the line as if he were Akon himself.

“Smack that, till you get sore,” Louis finished. Both boys just stared at each other for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Sore... I like the sound of that." Harry offered, and Louis just kept on laughing. His smile really was the most adorable thing to Harry. “We’re so ridiculous!” Harry laughed, and kissed Louis’ cheeks again. Seriously, they were so quirky. Who sings ‘Smack That’ or ‘Hot Stuff’ just a minute after a blowjob? Harry absolutely loved the fact that sex could be so much fun as well. He’d never felt anything like that before.

“Yeah. But you love it.”

“I do. Can’t deny it. That’s why I like us. We’re hot, and ridiculous.”

“I thought you said we were cute?” Louis asked, raising his brows.

“Cute outside of the bedroom. Hot and ridiculous is for when we’re _in_ the bedroom,” Harry whispered, as if it were a secret.

“And don’t forget pretty, love. You’re so pretty. And hot. And ridiculous.”

“Yup. You thick all of the boxes.” Harry kissed Louis again. “Pretty, check.” Another kiss. “Hot, check.” Another kiss. “And ridiculous, check.”

“Smooth love.” Louis pushed Harry’s chest away from his, and he placed his finger upon his lip, looking all pensive. “Now, as much as I enjoy talking to you, I believe you promised you were going to fuck me?” Louis asked mischievously.

“Ah, yes. I did say that.” Harry nodded.

“Any chance of that happening now?” Louis asked, and he slowly petted Harry’s lips with his thumb.

“What happened to patience and all of that?”

“Patience, smatience,” Louis laughed, and his face became stern again in an instant. “Styles, You said you’d fuck me.”

“Well, you know I am a man of my word,” Harry grinned, and he crashed back onto Louis. “On it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all very fictional, obviously...


	18. Freedom Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday, funday. Louis and Harry spend a free day together in Boston without a care in the world. No lyrics, just some movie quotes though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, first of all, sorry to keep you waiting... My boyfriend lost his job, and he was home for two months during my writing times. It would be weird to write with him in the same room... So I didn't. Anyway, my exams are finished, and he's got a new job, so all is good.

Sunday morning, Harry woke up with a cute little Louis snoring upon his chest. He gently stroked his hair, and remembered last night: Louis fucking his mouth, Harry finally fucking Louis, showering together, followed by the longest make-out session ever. It had been a quite successful evening, thank you very much.

A quick glance at his mobile told him it was only 8 o’clock, and Louis’ snoring told him that he wasn’t going to wake up any time soon. This gave Harry an idea: quietly, he took a selfie with his thumbs up, smiling next to a sleeping Louis. He sent it to Gemma, adding ‘Mission completed’.

Next, he started googling the touristic sights in Boston. If he heard Eleanor correctly yesterday, Louis was starting his new job on Monday. So, that meant that the two of them still had an entire day to enjoy one another’s company. And as much as he loved being in bed with Louis, he wanted to go out. He was _out_ , after all. Might as well take advantage, and take his glorious boy out into the real world.

Be out, in Boston, with Louis.

Funny thing. Harry had played in Boston with One Direction, but he had never really visited the city. The only thing that directly popped up into his mind, were those hideous green shirts from the Boston Celtics they all had worn one day. 

His smartphone told him that there was a tour you could walk in Boston, taking you to see all of the sights called the Freedom Trail. That sounded perfect.

Before he realized it, half an hour had passed, and Harry wanted Louis to wake up. He wanted to kiss him, talk to him, enjoy spending time with him. So, he started kissing him. The first time they had slept together, Harry had woken him up in the same way, and Louis had stated that it was a great way to wake up. So, basically, by waking him up like that, he was just respecting Louis’ wishes, right?

“Louis,” Harry whispered, while slowly kissing Louis’ cheeks. No movement whatsoever.

“Louis,” he tried again, kissing his eyes. Still no movement.

“Louis,” he said a bit louder, kissing his ears. Nothing. He climbed on top of Louis, and started playing gently with his hair.

“Louis,” Harry repeated, a bit louder, but his voice still incredibly fond. This time, Louis started moving slowly, and he brought his hand to his face to rub his eyes. Harry thought it was absolutely endearing. Louis opened his eyes, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Good morning my love,” Harry said, “I was waiting for you to wake up. Sleep well?”

“Yes I did. Lovely way to wake up by the way. And,” Louis paused, taking time to pull Harry’s face closer, “good morning to you too.” Louis kissed Harry this time, and Harry just knew this was going to be an amazing day. He opened his mouth to give Louis’ tongue access, and enjoyed the feeling of being so close to one another, morning breath aside.

Harry crawled out of the bed, and Louis took his time to sit up straight. He raised his brows at Harry.

“Where are you going? I thought we were just getting started here?” Louis asked.

“Love, today we’re going outside. There’s a walk that you can take here, in the city centre, to see all of the sights, called the Freedom Trail. And we’re going to do it!” Harry announced, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

“Outside? The Freedom Trail?” Louis repeated Harry’s words as if he had just spoken Chinese.

“Yes. Isn’t it appropriate? I mean, I’m out. I’m really out now. So we might as well go out. And since I’m officially out, that means I’m free. Finally I’ve got freedom to do what I want. So, the Freedom Trail sounds pretty appropriate to me.”

Louis nodded, taking his time to let Harry’s words sink in.

“What do you think? Okay if we explore the city a bit?” Harry asked.

“Yes. Yes, I just needed some time to wake up.” Louis rubbed his eyes one more time, and then jumped out of the bed. “I’m awake now though. Great speech about being out and being free by the way.”

“Did it work?” Harry frowned.

“It sure did. Yes baby, we’re going outside, and we’re going to walk this Freedom Trail of yours.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, grinning because Louis had called him baby again. Harry was Louis’ _baby_.

“Yes, we’re doing this. You’re absolutely right, you’re out, we should celebrate. So, we’re going to hold hands, and kiss in public, and be all couply all day. PDA for the win is our motto for the day!” Louis exclaimed, and he stretched out his hand to Harry as if they were going to shake on it, to seal the deal.

Harry reached him his hand, and so they shook on it.

“PDA for the win,” Harry repeated, while still shaking Louis’ hand.

“PDA for the win,” Louis confirmed, and he pulled Harry’s hand so Harry bumped into him, and he kissed him once more.

“I’m going to love today,” Harry sighed with his eyes clothes, clinging onto Louis.

“That’s the plan superstar. You’ve never done this before, and you should enjoy yourself. That's exactly what today is going to be about.”

“I like the sound of that,” Harry confessed. He really did. Louis seemed to really understand exactly what Harry wanted, and needed. He had really fallen in love with the perfect guy.

“I’m glad you do. Anything for you love.” Louis said, face all serious, and he kissed Harry’s lips once more, slowly this time. “Do you want to get breakfast indoors, or outside as well?”

“Outside. I’m all about this PDA thing you just mentioned.” Harry gave him a wink, and Louis gave him a huge smile.

“Alright you cute doofus,” Louis chuckled. “Let’s get dressed, and let’s go!” He walked into the bathroom. Harry couldn’t help but smile. PDA for the win. With anyone else, he’d found it cheesy as hell, but with Louis, this was exactly what he wanted. He made him so happy.

 

 

Twenty minutes later, the two of them left the hotel, hand in hand.

“So, this Freedom Trail starts in the park right over there. Should we do that stop first, and then go and get some breakfast while we’re walking?”

“Sounds good. But, don’t we need a map or something? Or have you memorised the entire tour while I was sleeping?” Louis asked, and he gave Harry an innocent look.

“No, I haven’t, what kind of nerd do you take me for?” Harry playfully bumped Louis’ shoulder. “There should be these special markers implanted in the pavement so you can easily follow the trail through the city.”

“Bloody hell. These Bostonians thought of everything, didn’t they?”

“Looks like they did.”

“Alright, let’s play along like proper tourists then, shall we? First rule, it’s obligatory to take pictures at every stop along the way of this trail you speak of.”

“Pictures, check.” Harry nodded, and waved his mobile.

“Second rule, while we’re at a stop, you google it, and then tell me all the highlights about these historical fancy places.”

“Why should I do all the hard work?” Harry pouted, and he pointed his finger at his own chest, raising his brows. Then, he pointed his finger at Louis. “Why don’t _you_ tell me all about the highlights?” Harry gave Louis his most innocent smile to strengthen his case.

“For fuck’s sake,” Louis started, “each time you give me that face, I’m not going to be able to deny you anything.”

“Anything?” Harry repeated cheekily.

“Anything. Okay okay, I’ll admit it. You’re pretty irresistible to me.” Louis said, almost bashful for a second. 

“Well, you know what they say.” Harry uttered, a combination of mumbling and singing, and he gave Louis a wink.

Louis was clearly waiting for Harry to finish his sentence, but he didn’t.

“Enlighten me. What do they say Styles? Don’t leave me hanging.”

“Opposites attract.” Harry said, deadpan.

“Seriously? You’re such a twat! You’re going to pay for this,” Louis threatened, and then he playfully kicked Harry’s ankle. Next thing Harry knew, Louis was running away from him, in the direction of the park. Harry took a few seconds to recover from the unexpected kick, and then started chasing him in the park.

“Come back here you idiot!” Harry yelled.

_But he’s my idiot._

“Hell no! Come and get me!” Louis screamed, and continued his running streak.

“Louis!” Harry yelled, “LOUIS!” Harry ran as fast as he could, and clearly Louis wasn’t doing the same, because Harry caught up with him in just about half a minute. He jumped on Louis’ back, and the two of them fell on the grass in the park.

“Get off you giant!” Louis screamed, and he wriggled until he was laying on his back, precisely underneath Harry. “Get. Off,” he ordered once more, but his demand didn’t sound very convincing.

“You really want me to get off of you?” Harry asked. He was enjoying this, this playful teasing. He tapped Louis’ nose, and smiled. “I kind of like it here. Close to you.”

“Yeah, so do I.” Louis admitted. He put his arms around Harry, and pulled him even closer, so Louis’ nose was in Harry’s hair. “God, you smell so good.”

“So do you.” Harry replied, and he took his time to inhale deeply, indulging in Louis’ smell. Then he kissed Louis’ nose. “I like you.”

“I like you too. And Styles, today’s motto is PDA for the win, remember?” Louis said. He immediately took action, and softly kissed Harry’s lips. Next, he used his tongue to wet Harry’s lips. He replied in a second, and just like that the two of them were snogging as if their lives depended on it, right there, outside, in the middle of the park in Boston.

“PDA for the win,” he repeated when he let go.

“Now, as much as I enjoy re-enacting romantic comedies and kissing in the park, we’re here on a touristic mission, namely the one and only Freedom Trail. And I for one, shall not be distracted by your wonderful kissing abilities.” Louis tried to push Harry off, but the latter obviously was a lot stronger, and Louis failed.

“Not enough PDA yet.” Harry firmly stated, pinning Louis’ hands down on the grass. “More kissing please.” 

“Alright, if you insist,” Louis sighed, rolling his eyes, but Harry could feel him smiling as they started kissing again.

 

 

An hour later, Harry and Louis had already walked about a mile of the Freedom Trail. First, they had walked aimlessly in the park until Louis started complaining that he was getting hungry. The two of them had eaten a bagel on the go, feeling like proper Americans. They had walked past the Massachusetts State House, and Harry had taken a picture of Louis posing as if the dome of the building was his hat. They had visited Park Street Church, and Louis had yelled ‘God, the gay sinners are heeeere!’ when entering. Strangely enough, they had received some dirty looks and they had exited the church about thirty seconds later. Next, they had gone to the Granary Burying Ground.

“So, it’s like a fancy name for a cemetery?” Louis asked, when Harry was reading the touristic information about the burying ground.

“I think so. You know, some people who signed the Declaration of Independence were buried here. That’s a big deal, no? So I understand why they’d give it a fancy name.” Harry stated, face all serious.

“The Declaration of Independence?” Louis asked, and immediately took Harry’s phone out of his hand. “So popstar, welcome at your history test. Tell me what you know about this declaration.”

“What? A test? Why?”

“Well, the motto’s PDA for the win. However, you need to earn PDA right now. For every correct answer you give, I’ll reward you with a kiss.” Louis stated firmly.

“That’s not fair. You’re this super smart intelligent clever university lad, and I’m just a singer.”

“ _Just_ a singer? Come on Harry, rise to the occasion!” Louis offered, and he started jumping around Harry all excitedly.

“I don’t know if you remember, but we were really young when we auditioned for the X-factor. We left school at an early age. I mean, Liam once thought that he had invented the word psychiatry.”

“He didn’t know the word psychiatry?” Louis stopped jumping, and frowned.

“Can you blame him? We didn’t finish secondary school. So, a history test feels like a punishment. Are you punishing me Louis?”

“No, I’m educating you. So, are you in or out?” Louis gave Harry a questioning look, and he slowly placed his hands upon his hips. The two of them kept staring into each other’s eyes, until Louis continued, “You want to earn those kisses or not?”

Harry looked at Louis, and decided upon the spot that he was the most precious person on earth, and that it was absolutely impossible to refuse him anything. He started to understand what Louis had meant earlier in the park, about being irresistible. Just as Louis was irresistible to Harry, Harry was irresistible to Louis.

“I do.”

“Okay. So, this famous Declaration of Independence… Who wanted to become independent?”

“Easy. The United States of America!” Harry yelled proudly. “Kiss please.”

Louis obliged easily, kissing Harry’s cheek.

“Good start. Nevertheless, the quiz goes on, and the questions get harder. When was it signed?”

“Independence Day. Duh!” Harry bowed bringing his face closer to Louis so he could easily kiss him again. However, Louis didn’t kiss him, but took a step back.

“Nope, that won’t do. I’m going to need the full date, not a holiday named after it.”

“I don’t know…” Harry started, but just like that, the answer came to him. “Oh! The fourth of July!”

“Styles, you’re on fire.” Louis said, while giving him another peck. “So, who signed this Declaration?”

“Do you even know that yourself?” Harry asked, because Louis just wouldn’t stop staring at his mobile. He had the distinct impression that Louis was still reading upon the subject himself.

“I know some of them. It seems this Declaration was fairly popular, since more than 50 people signed it.” Louis looked up, and put the mobile away. “So, if you can give me five names, it’s PDA time.”

“5 names? That’s like, extremely difficult. I’m expecting some gigantic levels of PDA here if I succeed.” Harry said, his voice all angelic, and he winked at Louis.

“Well, important Americans in history… George Washington? Teddy Roosevelt? Abraham Lincoln? Any of those guys maybe?”

“No, no no. God, no. I mean, no.” Louis was shaking his head like a maniac.

“So that’s a no then?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“Yes. Obviously. No.” Louis chuckled, and Harry absolutely adored the crinkles by his eyes when he smiled like that.

“I’m going to find it though. I mean, I’m highly motivated. Gigantic levels of PDA were mentioned, right?”

“Yup.” Louis agreed.

When the two of them entered the burying ground, it was obvious that it was a touristic highlight, because there were lots of people taking pictures. Undoubtedly, the presence of Louis and Harry decreased the average age of the people there, since they seemed the be the only ones without grey hair. They walked into the direction of a popular grave, since several tourists were looking at it, and taking pictures.

“Samuel Adams,” Louis read out loud.

“Signer of the Declaration of Independence!” Harry continued.

“Jeez! Who would have thought they would actually put that type of information on somebody’s grave? I mean, come on!” Louis exclaimed.

Several of the grey haired people at the grave gave Louis a stern look, to let him know his comment wasn’t highly appreciated. Louis ignored them, obviously. Harry thought it was absolutely wonderful how Louis could do that, just completely ignore people, and their opinion about him. Harry wasn’t as strong as that, wasn’t quite capable of doing that. He was a people-pleaser, always had been.

“However, Samuel Adams means I’ve got one. Four more to go!”

“Seriously Styles, this is cheating. You’re not even trying to hide it.”

“Like hell it is. It’s not my fault that they put it upon his grave, is it now?” Harry demanded, and Louis pouted. Harry knew he’d won. He might as well push his luck. “So, a bit of PDA already then, for this first correct answer?”

“Bloody hell, you’re not getting any PDA for this. Four more names, and then we’ll talk.”

“I’m kind of hoping the talking will stop once we start the PDA.” Harry winked.

“Oh God. Why am I in love with such a loser?” Louis asked no one in particular, rolling his eyes.

Harry felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, a charming grey haired woman, wearing a mint green jacket, gave him a smile. “Are you perhaps Harry Styles? I think my granddaughter has got about 245 posters of you in her room.”

“Yes, that’s me indeed,” Harry said, using his friendly yet very fake enthusiasm he reserved for situations like these. “Nice to meet you.”

“God, such a shame. I asked her to join me on this walking tour through historical Boston, but she said she had more interesting things to do. What on earth could be more interesting than historical sites like these? She would have been so excited to see you! And now her granny gets to meet her all-time favourite singer! Isn’t that a coincidence?”

“Maybe we should take a picture together? That might convince her to follow you along on your next historical trip?” Harry offered. He had an idea. Taking a picture would mean getting close, and getting close would mean a chance to ask about the people who signed the Declaration.

“My, isn’t that a lovely idea! Jack, can you take the picture?” She gave her camera to an older man standing nearby, and Harry could only assume that had to be Jack.”

“Certainly Rose,” he replied dryly. He was obviously not impressed.

Harry put his arm around Rose’s shoulder, and smiled at Jack’s camera.

“Maybe you should take a few pictures, just to be sure!” Harry said, and he kept his arm around Rose. He leaned in a bit closer, and whispered, making sure Louis wouldn’t hear him, “Can you give me five names of people who signed the Declaration of Independence?”

“What?” Rose asked, face all confused.

“That’s a terrible picture honey. I’m going to take another one,” Jack announced, and Harry nodded.

“I’m having a quiz with my boyfriend, and I need to name five people who signed the Declaration. Can you help me?” Harry asked her, still whispering. Here he was, admitting to a random stranger that he had a boyfriend. Being out. Being free. Freedom trail. 

Rose smiled, and nodded. “Jack, that must be enough. Can Harry and I take a look at the pictures?” Rose grabbed the camera out of his hands, and the two of them bent over the camera’s screen.

“Well, that one’s no good,” Rose said, voice loud. “John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson,” she whispered.

“This one is better,” Harry replied, voice loud. “John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson,” he repeated, whispering as well.

Rose took the camera away, and nodded. “Thank you so much Harry Styles.”

“No, no,” Harry said, “Thank you! You’ve been very helpful. Give my regards to your granddaughter.”

“I will!” Rose replied, and she took Jack’s hand. Harry saw the old couple walking away, and he turned to Louis again, who had followed the entire scene from a few meters away.

“Well well well, mister Styles has got fans in every age category! Such a sweet lovely lady. My guess is Jack was fairly jealous when the two of you were that close!” Louis raised his brows, and Harry shut him up by kissing him. Louis pushed him away immediately. “Wow, relax! No PDA before you give me these names, you know the drill.”

Harry put his arms around Louis again, and whispered into his ear, “John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson,”

“Oooh that sweet lovely Rose.”

“Yes, she was quite lovely,” Harry agreed.

“Lovely, yes. And apparently not to be trusted! How her innocent and ancient look has deceived me! She totally helped you with that.” Louis accused, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit since he immediately put his arms on Harry’s bum. “PDA is what you asked for, PDA is what you’ll get. Watch out you seniors, cover your eyes because this is going to get dirty!”

“Wanna get dirrrrty,” Harry murmured into Louis’ ears, while holding him tight.

“Shut up Christina, and let me kiss you.” Louis whispered, and he brought his lips closer to Harry’s.

Harry smiled into the kiss.

 

 

Two hours later, they arrived at the final stop of the trail: Bunker Hill Monument. They had taken a ridiculous amount of selfies in front of every monument, and Harry had been recognized quite a few times. However, they hadn’t cared for a second. Because they had only focussed on each other. Louis and Harry had walked the entire trail as a happy couple, holding hands for most of the time. Louis had bought them frappuccinos when they were in the middle of the tour, and Harry had bought them a cup filled with fresh fruit to return the favour.

“So, Bunker Hill Monument, right?” Louis asked.

“Yes, the final stop on the tour.” Harry replied, while he read the Wikipedia entry on the monument. “So, it was erected to commemorate the battle of Bunker Hill. Some battle between the British and the Patriots during the American Revolutionary War.”

“See, I’m sure that was an interesting history lesson you’ve just given me, but you had me at ‘erected’. What a word.” Louis chuckled.

“I had you at erected?” Harry repeated, grinning. “Erected?”

“Shut up.” Louis said, a small smile on his face now. “You had me at hello.”

“Oooh,” Harry cooed, “I’ve contaminated you with my sappiness! Come here love.” Harry threw his long arms around Louis, and hugged him as if they were giving farewell hugs before one of them was departing into space or something.

“I can’t help it. It’s because I’ve got my very own Sappy McSapson,” Louis said, and he kissed Harry’s neck.

The two of them stood there for a few minutes, on the grass in front of the monument, embracing and kissing and whispering sweet loving words into each other’s ears. Harry cherished every single second of them standing there.

“I love this. Just standing here with you. Kissing. Holding you.”

“So do I baby. I’m so in love with you.” Louis said. “But maybe we should climb this tower first?”

“Why? I’m really enjoying this. Jus the two of us, and being able to play with your hair.” Harry admitted. Being out. Being free. The freedom trail. 

“Trust me love, I’m enjoying this as well. But if we climb the tower, we have officially finished the tour which means we can go back to your hotel room.” Louis offered, and then he raised his brows, grinning broadly. “Whatever might we do there, I wonder… Do you have any ideas?”

“Say no more. I understand completely. Up we go.” Harry replied. He took Louis’ hand and dragged him to the entrance, and he could hear Louis chuckle.

Louis hadn’t mentioned the word sex, but Harry was extremely good at reading between the lines, and was therefore motivated to make it to the top of the monument as soon as possible, in order to get to the hotel as soon as possible. He paid the entrance fee, and started running up the stairs to get to the top.

“Wow, wait up love, I can’t follow that pace!” Louis yelled, and Harry stopped to let him catch up.

“You mean, your pretty little legs can’t follow my pace.” Harry grinned, standing with his hands upon his hips in the middle of the staircase leading to the top.

“My little legs? _Little_?” Louis repeated, visibly offended.

“I also used the word pretty, but you’re just going to focus upon the fact that I used little, right?” Harry asked.

“You think I’m little?” Louis said once again, pouting.

“I think you’ve got little legs in comparison to me, yes. Little, but pretty. And strong. And sexy. I love your legs.” Harry said, and he took three steps down the stairs, so he passed Louis, and was standing one step lower than him. Louis and Harry were the same height now, and Harry looked straight into his eyes.

“Whatever Styles. You called me little. Better make it up to me, now.” Louis put on a sad face, even though it was clear that he was acting.

“Gladly,” Harry said, and he kissed Louis’ forehead. “I like the fact that you’re smaller than me, yet you tower above me when we’re talking, because you’re a verbal rollercoaster, whereas I need time to think about every little word I say.”

“This conversation went all serious in a heartbeat. I like it though. Go on.” Louis said, not talking his eyes of Harry.

“I like the fact that you’re smaller than me, because it allows me to hug you completely, and it makes me feel as if I’m capable of protecting you of anything or anyone who might want to hurt you.”

“Oooh. Go on.” Louis repeated.

“I like the fact that you’re smaller than me, because if I hold you, I can bury my face into your hair and neck. And your hair is so soft, and you always smell so good. It just feels great to do that.”

“I’ve almost forgiven you for calling me little. One more.” Louis smirked.

“I like the fact that you’re smaller than me, because I can easily put my arm around your shoulder when we’re walking, without it being uncomfortable for a second.”

“Bloody hell, you’re good at this.” Louis put his two fingers in the air to swear an oath, “by the powers vested in me by the state of Massachusetts, I hereby declare you forgiven.”

“Amen to that,” Harry replied. “Are you going to return the favour?”

“Return the favour? What, you want me to deliberately insult you, so I can make up for it with a speech like you just did?”

“Yes please.”

“You’re weird Styles.”

“Weird? Did you just call me weird?” Harry repeated, all offended, and obviously repeating Louis’ offended streak of a minute earlier. 

“Nope, I’m just going to ignore that. We’re going to climb this tower. But I’ve got the lead now, so you’ll have to follow the pace of these _little_ legs on those 294 steps.” Louis said, and he started running as quick as he could. Harry tried to keep up, but Louis was just faster, and he quickly disappeared out of Harry’s sight. When he finally arrived at the top, Louis was sitting down by one of the windows, with his mobile ready.

“And here we have Mister Styles,” Louis stated, and Harry understood that he was filming, “finally arriving at the top of the tower, about twenty-seven seconds later than me. Me, Louis Tomlinson, with these little legs.”

Harry walked towards Louis, and looked directly into the camera of Louis’ mobile.

“I’ve made up for calling those legs little, and right now I’m exhausted and all the more in awe of these little legs.” Harry paused, and continued with his best Bruno Mars imitation, “Hot damn, these are fast little legs!”

Louis laughed, and put his mobile down.

“You should check out the view of the city. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

“Okay,” Harry said, and he bent over so he could take a proper look out of one of the windows. He saw the skyscrapers of the city centre of Boston in the distance, the modern bridge they had passed an hour earlier, and the entire harbour. The view was indeed quite striking. He took a moment to enjoy the view, and then turned around to see Louis still playing with his mobile. Harry decided the view of Louis sitting there, with his legs crossed was even prettier.

“Selfie?” Harry asked as he sat down next to Louis.

“Sure baby.” Louis replied, and he raised his mobile once again.

Louis had used the word ‘baby’ about 25641 times that day already, but every time he said it, Harry got a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

“I love it when you call me baby.” Harry admitted, while smiling at Louis’ mobile.

“I love calling you baby. Makes me feel all rugged, and manly.” Louis said, taking the picture.

“You are though. Rugged, and manly. You should feel like that all the time.”

“I do when I’m with you.” Louis confessed. “You make me feel all kinds of things I’ve never felt before.” They checked out the selfies.

“We really look good together.” Harry said.

“We are good together.”

“God, you’re in such a sappy mood. I love it!” Harry chuckled.

“Don’t get used to it though. Sappiness is not my forte. But, you know, I’m staying here, and you’re probably going back to London, so that makes me all sappy.”

“It’s only three o’clock. We still got time. Let’s not think about the goodbye-part yet.”

Harry really didn’t want to think about it. It was wonderful for Louis that he had gotten a new chance, a new job, but it did indeed mean that the two of them would be parted by the Atlantic Ocean. Harry wasn’t quite ready to face that fact just yet. Ignorance really is bliss. He was just so happy to spend time with Louis, and he didn’t want to worry about the future. About their future.

“Let’s not.” Louis agreed.

“So, hotel room?”

“What, no more sappy revelations?”

“You had another one ready for me then?” Harry asked, voice hopeful.

“I might have. Wait, give me a second. We need to stand up for this one.”

The two of them got up, and when they did, two other girls entered the small room at the top of the monument. Both girls stared directly at Harry with their mouths wide open. They were obviously One Directions fans. No doubt about it.

_Not now._

“Enjoying the view girls? You should definitely check the view you have from that window. That’s the best view, for sure.” Louis declared as if he were a tourist guide, and pointed in the direction of the window behind them. The girls looked confused, but walked in the direction were Louis had pointed them.

Again, Louis had solved the situation in the best way possible, and Harry felt grateful. Louis had promised him another sappy moment, and he absolutely loved these. Louis wasn’t that open, or that sappy most of the time, so Harry felt giddy and nervous about what Louis was going to say now. He didn’t want any fans to ruin this moment.

Louis took Harry’s hand in his, a stern look upon his face.

“Waw. Such a serious face. This is going to be good,” Harry laughed. 

“Ready?” Louis asked, and Harry just nodded his head with so much enthusiasm his head might fall off. “You have bewitched me, body and soul. And I love, love, love you.”

“Oh my God Louis,” Harry said, and he jumped into Louis’ arms like a little kid.

“Humpf,” Louis whined, trying to keep standing up while carrying Harry, unable to say anything more because Harry was kissing every part of his face.

“I. Love. You. Too.” Harry said in between kisses, and kept on repeating exactly that with every kiss. “I. Love. You. So. Much.” 

He had realized that he loved Louis when he was on the plane towards Boston, but it hadn't crossed his mind to say it out load. He had been afraid that it might have been too soon, too much for Louis. Now, Harry was just over the moon that Louis felt the same way. They had only known each other for such a short period of time, but it was clear that they were two minds who felt and thought the same.

“Good to know. Taxi towards the hotel then?” Louis offered, as he tried to return Harry’s kisses. Once more, they were on the same page. 

“Yes. Let’s go!” Harry started running of the stairs again, and Louis was right behind him. His little legs had no trouble keeping up.

 

 

 

Twenty minutes later, Harry opened the door of his room. Louis was immediately upon him, talking of his shirt, and unbuttoning his trousers. Harry tried to do the same with Louis, but both their arms were in the way.

“Maybe we should undress ourselves, that’s quicker,” Harry suggested.

“What, no striptease this time?” Louis pouted.

“No love. You confessed you love me, so there’s no need anymore,” Harry replied cheekily.

Louis laughed, “You’ve got me there,” and started talking his shoes and socks off.

Half a minute later, both of them were naked, and kissing again. They walked towards the bed, still kissing, and Louis pushed Harry so he fell upon the bed.

“I do love you indeed. So I’m going to fuck you to make you feel good. To make you feel great. Because that’s how I feel when I’m with you.”

“And the sappiness continues even during the sex. This is the best day ever!” Harry said happily, and he put his hand around Louis’ cock and started stroking it.

“Aaargh,” Louis moaned, “Best day ever.”

“You’re so beautiful. You’re simply gorgeous all the time, but especially like this, when you’re moaning, and you’re all hot for me,” Harry confessed, and he spit upon Louis’ cock and picked up the pace.

“Aah, the sappiness gets replaced by dirtiness.” Louis replied.

“My favourite type of ness,” Harry said, and he gave Louis a wink before taking Louis’ cock into his mouth.

“Styles, you’re too much,” Louis whispered, and Harry felt Louis’ hands in his hair. He loved this feeling, of being in control, of hearing Louis moaning and knowing that he was the one causing that.

“Fuck, Harry, I,…” Louis started, but Harry used his free hand to play with his balls, and Louis’ speech transformed into another set of moans and sighs. He could feel Louis’ hands in his hair, pulling him, and that got Harry all hot and bothered too. He let go of Louis’ balls, and started stroking himself.

“Oh no no no Harry.” Louis said, as he took a step back and Harry felt Louis’ cock disappearing out of his mouth. “You’re not going to touch yourself. That’s my job.”

Harry simply nodded, aroused by Louis’ dominant tone, and crawled back upon the bed, allowing him to do whatever he wanted. Louis crawled on top of Harry, and started kissing him first. It was a passionate kiss, filled with lust, and their hands roamed freely over each other’s bodies. Harry loved that Louis didn't just like his cock alone, but also spent time on his entire body. None of his previous fucks had done that. 

“Fuck me,” Harry sighed in between kisses.

“Yes dear,” Louis replied with a huge smile, as he took Harry’s cock in his hands, and stroked it for just a few seconds. Then, he climbed off Harry, and placed himself right next to him on the bed. Harry looked confused, he didn’t really understand what Louis had planned.

“You deserve to be kissed. Everywhere. So I’m going to do exactly that,” Louis whispered. He started with Harry’s toes, and slowly worked his way up, kissing every part of Harry’s body. He took his time, and Harry felt himself getting antsier and harder every second.

“You’re so beautiful Harry,” Louis said, and continued the kissing. His toes, his feet, his legs, his knees, his thighs, his hips, his bellybutton, his nipples, his neck, his shoulders, his elbows, his hands, and lastly, his face. Louis kissed every part of Harry’s body.

“Fuck me, please Louis.” Harry begged. “I need you… Inside.”

Louis chuckled and sat up straight again. “You’re so demanding. Here I am, being a perfect gentleman, kissing you gently, and you just want me to fuck you.”

“Yes. Kiss me afterwards. Fuck me now. Please!” Harry begged again.

“Well, let me open you up first baby.” Louis said. He changed his position so he was sat right in between Harry’s legs, and he started rubbing his fingers, tingling them around Harry’s hole.

“Feels so good. Inside please.” Harry demanded.

“God, I love it when you beg.” Louis murmured, and he slowly pushed a first finger inside. Harry arched his back, and moaned Louis’ name.

“More please,” Harry moaned, with a smile on his face, “please please please.”

Louis obliged, and pushed two fingers inside, scissoring them, getting Harry to moan even louder.

“Fuck Louis.”

Louis never took his eyes of Harry, and Harry could feel him watching. He loved the fact that Louis was so focussed upon him, and he felt no shame whatsoever, despite being naked, despite being absolutely desperate for Louis.

“More,” Harry demanded.

Louis obliged again, adding a third finger. Harry arched his back even further this time.

“You’re so eager, aren’t you?” Louis said, even though it obviously was a rhetorical question.

“As if you’re not eager,” Harry whispered accusingly. “You want to fuck me as much as I want you to fuck me.”

“Oh, I’m eager love. Very eager indeed,” Louis confessed as he continued to play with his three fingers inside of Harry. He licked Harry’s cock once again, and looked him in the eye. “Eager to be inside of you.” He sucked Harry’s balls just once, and gave him the same look. “Eager to watch you come.”

“Then fuck me, please,” Harry begged.

“My little hot beggar. I can’t deny you a thing,” Louis chuckled, and he withdrew his fingers. Harry closed his eyes, full of expectation. He heard Louis opening the lube and a condom, and within seconds he felt Louis’ wet fingers again. Harry moaned Louis’ name for the umpteenth time.

He felt Louis’ cock entering him, slowly, and Harry started moving his hips before Louis’ cock was fully inside of him. He could hear Louis chuckle, and he opened his eyes again.

“Patience is a virtue.” Louis pulled back, and kissed Harry’s lips. “You okay baby?”

“No.” Harry pouted. “You’re not fucking me.”

Louis smiled. “On it!” He pushed his cock into Harry once again, and then starting thrusting in and out. Harry’s hummed contently, and Louis started moaning as well.

“So… pretty,” Louis whispered.

“So… good,” Harry added.

“So… sweet,” Louis murmured.

“So… sexy,” Harry sighed.

Louis sped up the pace, and Harry moved his hips backwards to meet Louis’ thrusts. Both of them were sweating, and Harry closed his eyes again. He felt Louis put his hand around his cock, stroking it in the same rhythm as he was fucking him. Heaven. This was absolutely heavenly. 

“Louis, I’m… Oh God.” Harry started, and he arched his back again, and closed his legs around Louis’ back.

“Come on love. Come for me,” Louis demanded, his voice rough.

As per usual, Harry obliged, and came. He felt as if he were floating, even though he had Louis on top of him, and never ever had an orgasm felt that good, great, fantastic. It seemed as if the sex was getting better every single time.

He could feel his body still bobbing along the rhythm of Louis’ thrusts, and he joined his movements to make Louis come as well. He could see the sweat on his forehead, and Harry thought this version of Louis, looking all hot and bothered and on the edge of coming, was the most sexy sight he’d ever seen.

“God, I’m going to.” Louis moaned, and Harry loved seeing him like this, thrusting into him. It felt so good, even though he had come already, to have Louis inside of him.

“Louis, come for me. Come, please,” Harry begged. He had remembered Louis’ earlier comment about how he loved it when he begged.

“Harry, fuuuuck,” Louis shouted, and he came as well. Harry changed his mind again. Louis coming, that was the most sexy sight he’d ever seen. He landed on top of Harry, his breathing heavy. “I love you. I love today. Such a good day,” he whispered.

“Best day ever?” Harry asked.

“Best day ever.” Louis answered.

“I love you too.” Harry said, kissing Louis’ neck.


	19. One last night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Louis enjoy their last moments together in Boston, before Harry has to go back home, and Louis starts his new job.

“So, tell me a bit more about your PhD, smartie pants.” Harry demanded, and he helped himself to a first piece of sushi.

Just after their fabulous sex session, Louis had gone out to get some food. Louis had offered, just saying that it would be quicker if he did it. Harry had stayed in their room, and enjoyed a long shower, and afterwards he had read some articles that Jeff had sent him. Somehow, over the last couple of hours, several articles had magically appeared all about Harry and Louis’ stroll through the city.

Harry was a bit bugged about all of it, because it was basically a confirmation that privacy did not exist. All of the pictures in the articles were obviously taken by fans and passers-by, not by fancy pap cameras. As a result, most of the pictures were of Harry and Louis’ back, or of the two of them kissing and hugging.

 

_Harry Styles’ romantic walk in Boston!_

_Just a couple of days ago, Harry Styles (23) made the news when he was spotted kissing another man at Heathrow airport’s parking lot. However, he did not comment on the pictures, and fans have been left to speculate about Styles’ sexual orientation._

_Today, Styles confirmed the rumours about him not being straight. Styles was spotted in the city centre of Boston with another man. The two were not camera shy, and lots of fans used their smartphones to witness the couple passing them by. All the pictures below this article show that he is indeed dating a man, since the two of them were spotted, holding hands, taking selfies, and kissing. The other man is identified as Louis Tomlinson, a British student, who Styles recently met in a studio while recording a talk show. Even though the two of them did not have a friendly conversation while on air (link here), they obviously like each other a lot. We wish them the best of luck for the future. _

_What do you think about this romantic stroll? Leave your comments below!_

 

Harry had shown the article to Louis, who had merely shrugged, saying, “I saw it while waiting for the food. Lottie sent it to me.”

“You’re not bothered by it?” Harry asked, a bit shocked by Louis’ indifferent response.

“Can’t say that I am. Otherwise I wouldn’t have come up with the slogan ‘PDA for the win, right?”

“Right,” Harry replied, still unsure.

“Don’t worry love. Who reads The Daily Mail anyway? Grannies and teenagers.”

Harry really liked Louis, that was settled already. But this reaction made him appreciate Louis even more.

“Besides, we look really cute.” Louis continued, as he opened the first container of sushi.

“We do, don’t we?”

“Power couple baby. Now, don’t worry about it, and eat. You need your strength for what’s going to happen these last few hours we have together.”

“Oh?” Harry asked. “What did you have in mind?” He winked at Louis, who was obviously referring to lots of sex. Right?

“Well, lots of deep and meaningful conversations, obviously, since you asked me about my PhD.”

Okay, no sex just yet.

“Yeah, I did. Tell me. I love to hear you talk.”

Harry did indeed love to hear Louis talk. He was always so passionate, and very convincing, whatever point he was trying to make. He managed to insert humour in super serious conversations, and he was just so interesting.

Harry just a bit in love? No. Crazy in love

“Even when you say that _I_ am a smooth talker, _you_ manage to sound like the greatest smooth talker in the history of smooth talkers,” Louis chuckled. 

“You’re trying to change the subject. Your PhD.” Harry demanded.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to bore you to sleep. This is our last night together, right? I’d rather not you remember me as the boring university lad you once crossed the Atlantic for.”

Harry didn’t really like it that Louis kept on referring to the end of their time together. Yes, Harry would have to fly back, and yes, Louis started working at the university tomorrow, but there was no point in constantly discussing their goodbyes now, was there?

Harry swallowed his piece of sushi, and kissed Louis on his cheek. “That could never happen. Really. It’s about lyrics. I write lyrics for a living. Come on, enlighten me.”

“Well…” Louis started, “How much do you know of Bob Dylan’s work to begin with?”

“Not that much,” Harry admitted. Yes, Dylan was obviously an all-time classic lyricist, but it all happened way before his time. Harry knew some of the classic songs, such as Mr Tambourine Man and Blowing in the Wind, but Dylan had written such a humongous amount of songs, that Harry hadn’t had the time or energy to get acquainted with them. It had been on his things-to-do-to-be-taken-seriously-as-a-writer-list for years, but he just hadn’t gotten to it.

“Let’s start with something easy then, more about poetry and lyrics in general then about Dylan himself.”

“Sounds perfect.’ Harry chirped. Lyrics in general, that he could do.

“First of all, if you really want to know…” Louis started.

“I really want to know. I’m not just asking about this to please you or something. I’m genuinely interested.” Harry confirmed.

“Genuinely?” Louis repeated, grinning.

“Genuinely. Obviously.” Harry replied.

“Okay, just checking. Don’t feel obliged to keep listening. If you had enough of me rambling, feel free to interrupt me at any time. I tend to talk way too much, once I get going.”

“Noted.”

“Right. So, to start, you should be aware of several terms linked to poetry: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, juxtaposition, alliteration, and so on. Do you know any of these, or what they mean?”

“Well, I vaguely remember dealing with these terms during poetry classes in secondary school, but that’s far as it goes I fear.” Harry paused, taking another piece of sushi. “It’s not as if I can give you a definition or even an explanation for all of these thingies you just mentioned. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize love.” Louis said. “While I was studying these things into more depth at university, you were conquering the world. No need to say sorry.”

Louis just the word love again, and Harry’s smile appeared again. The two actions seemed to go hand in hand.

“So, anyway. All of these _thingies_ I mentioned, are terms of figurative speech, rhetorical devices, or rhythms you can find in poetry. These thingies, as you so beautifully called them, have been used over centuries by authors all over the world in their poems to colour their message. You know, spice things up, rather than just writing something boring and predictable, like ‘you’re pretty, do you like me?’” Louis stopped talking for a second, and Harry nodded to show that he understood. “Hence, the thingies. You can find similes in Romantic poetry, metaphors in Victorian poetry, and so on. Shakespeare used them, Keats did as well, and so did Poe. Since pretty much always, they have been crawling into lyrics as well. Bob Dylan used a lot of these stylistic figures poets use as well. Still with me?”

“People who write music use the same thingies as poets. Got it.”

“Yeah. That might have been a simpler way to explain it.”

“No no, your explanation is thorough, please, do continue that way.” Harry said, as he put the empty box of sushi on the ground. He positioned himself on his belly on the bed, facing Louis, and he placed his head in his hands to give him his undivided attention. “Go on.”

“Let’s start with an easy one. Similes. You must know them, right?”

“Right. They’re the ones with like, like.” Harry grinned.

“You’re not funny Styles.” Louis said, even though his grin told Harry otherwise. “But, yeah, that’s pretty much it. You compare two things, and you use like to do so. Basically, it kind of makes your message about the things you’re comparing a bit more vivid.”

“Can you give me an example Mister Tomlinson?” Harry asked innocently.

Louis pinched Harry’s elbow. “Don’t go all pupil on me. It’s not endearing at all.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Don’t contradict me or I’ll give you some homework.” Louis said, raising his brows.

“I’ll be good,” Harry said, voice all angelic.

“I’m just going to ignore the innuendo. Now, about that example,” Louis took a deep breath, and started singing: “Do you ever feel, like,” and he stopped abruptly.

“Like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin, like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?” Harry sang in reply.

“Aha, you recognized my singing!” Louis chirped. “Katy Perry indeed!”

“You’ve got such a beautiful voice Louis, you should sing more.” Harry said, and Louis actually looked bashful. Harry wanted to hug him until the day he died.

“Not the point. The point is that Miss Perry used two similes. Got them?”

Harry hadn’t really thought about it when singing, so he took a few seconds to sing the words again.

“Like a plastic bag, and like a house of cards?”

“Spot on.” Louis said, and he kissed Harry’s cheek.

“Just the cheek?” Harry asked.

“I told you, similes are super easy. You don’t get any fancy rewards for that just yet. Can you come up with some more examples?” Louis took the last piece of sushi, and just chucked the box on the ground.

This was absolutely ridiculous. Louis had admitted that he was in love with Harry, and they had pretty much agreed that it was mutual. Yet, for some strange reason, Harry wanted to impress Louis bigtime. He wanted to come up with 154853 examples of similes, all intelligent and original choices. However, he could heard himself singing Madonna instead.

“When you call my name, it’s like a little prayer. I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there. In the midnight hour I can feel your power, just like a prayer, you know I’ll take you there.”

 “Like a prayer by Madonna? One of your favourites?” Louis asked, raising his brows.

“Not particularly, yet it was the first one that came to mind.” Harry shrugged.

“Alright, so you weren’t satisfied with the kiss on the cheek. Here’s a little test for you. If you give me three more examples, I’ll give you a five minute full-on snogging-fest.” Louis winked, and sat back up again, putting some distance between him and Harry.

“Now that’s a good incentive.” Harry smiled, and he started thinking for a second time, searching appropriate lyrics. Pharrel’s words immediately came to mind, so Harry sang again.

“Because I’m happy, clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.”

“That’s one.” Louis nodded.

Harry considered Shawn Mendes’ Stitches, because he was quite sure there was a simile in the second verse. However, he wasn’t quite sure whether Louis would know it, so he started singing from the chorus.

“You watch me bleed until I can't breathe  
I'm shaking falling onto my knees  
And now that I'm without your kisses  
I'll be needing stitches  
I'm tripping over myself  
I'm aching begging you to come help  
And now that I'm without your kisses  
I'll be needing stitches

Just like a moth drawn to a flame  
Oh you lured me in I couldn't sense the pain…”

 

Louis just looked at him for a few seconds, seeming to be lost in his thoughts. Then his face went all serious. “Okay, first of all Harry, wow. You’re such an awesome singer. You could totally give Shawn Mendes a run for his money.” Louis paused, and Harry smiled, blushing a bit.  
Yeah, he’d gotten lots of compliments about his singing skills in his lifetime, but it was different coming from Louis. Better. Sweeter. “Second of all, you sang like more than ten lines. How am I supposed to know whether you actually _know_ where the simile is?” Louis put his hands on his hips trying to look all serious, and frowned. “Do you know?”

Harry couldn’t stop smiling, because Louis’ act as a stern teacher was just downright adorable. Obviously,

“It’s at the end, when I sang ‘Just _like_ a moth drawn to a flame’. I just wasn’t sure if you’d know the song, since it’s pretty recent and all, and he’s doesn’t really seem like your type of artist, so I sang the chorus as well.” Harry explained.

“Don’t underestimate me. I’m very open-minded.”

“Are you now?” Harry raised his brows, grinning.

“Jeez Styles, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about music.”

“I wasn’t. Anyway, that’s two, right?”

“Yup. You need one more.”

Harry had another one in mind already, and he jumped out of the bed with an idea to surprise Louis. He wasn’t very good at beatboxing, but nonetheless he tried a variation of ‘tum-tum-tums’, and started dancing as if he was out clubbing.

“No idea what you’re doing there love, but this is just a wonderful sight to be behold.” Louis smirked.

Harry waved his hands in the air as if he just didn’t care, and started singing in his best American accent.

“Popping bottles in the ice, like a blizzard,  
when we drink we do it right, getting slizzard,  
Sipping zizzurp in my ride, in my ride, like Three 6,  
Now I’m feeling so fly like a G6”

He stopped dancing and took a bow. Louis clapped, and couldn’t stop laughing.

“I can’t believe you just did that!”

“Well, it’s a simile, isn’t it?”

Louis continued laughing. “It sure is.” Then he laughed some more. “You’re unbelievable Styles.”

Harry just got all of the confirmation that he needed, and jumped right back onto the bed.

“That’s the third one. I believe I was promised some kind of snogging-fest?” Harry asked, and then he put his thumb into his mouth, looking all innocent.

“Yes, you’ve a good pupil so far. Let me reward you for your good behaviour.”

Louis crawled closer, and pushed Harry onto the bed. Then he hovered above him for about five seconds, and both of them were quiet, just staring into each other’s eyes.

Louis was so pretty. So hot when he was in control.

Louis licked his lips, and kissed Harry a first time, clearly taking his time. It started with small pecks upon his upper lip, and then he moved on to Harry’s lower lip. He slowly sucked, and Harry lifted his head to give Louis more access.

Louis’ lips were on his. Awesome.

Kissing Louis felt so good. This was just kissing, nothing more, and still Harry felt all cuddly, lovey-dovey inside.

“Yummy. Got myself a Louis,” Harry sighed in between kisses.

“Shut. Up.” Louis demanded, while kissing Harry firmly, and then crawling back off him. “So, we did the whole simile thing. How about we take this one step further?”

“One step further than just kissing?” Harry asked, voice filled with hope. Louis pinched his shoulder.

“You were the one who asked about my PhD you sexed-up doofus. And now we talked about it for five minutes, and you already want to have sex again?”

“I want to have sex with you all the time,” Harry confessed. As soon as he the words escaped his mouth, he regretted them. Too much. Too pathetic.

Louis just chuckled. “Yeah, well, we can’t always get what we want. My poor heart wouldn’t survive a constant string of sex with Harry Styles. Although, I like that you think that way.” He bent down again, and kissed Harry’s nose.

“Mmm,” Harry mumbled.

“I’m going to ignore that, and continue my lesson. I’m a proper teacher, I’ll have you know.” Louis said. “Now, you clearly understood the whole similes thing. Time to level it up. Metaphors. Shoot!”

Louis gave Harry a questioning look, and Harry knew he was expected to reply. Metaphors… He had actually studied that somewhere in his short career in secondary school, and he had heard Niall mentioning them quite often when writing.

“I’ll give you an example, but no explanation, and your job is to come up with another example and a definition this time.”

“Wow, you really meant it when you said taking it one step further, didn’t you?” Harry remarked.

“I sure did. Proper teacher, right? Now, here’s my example.” Louis stopped talking, and looked away from Harry before he started singing, clearly still being shy about his voice.

“You are the thunder, and I am the lightning,” Louis sang beautifully, and Harry was completely endeared for the umpteenth time.

“Selena Gomez. I applaud your good taste. She’s really quite wonderful.”

“Indeed, I have good taste, in comparison to some of us who think it’s socially acceptable to sing ‘Like a G6’.” Louis paused, winking at Harry. “Now, you heard my example. You come up with a theory, and another example. Metaphors Harry. Impress me.”

“Give me a second, will you?” Harry asked, and Louis nodded. He just knew that Niall once had been so excited with one particular song, saying something along the lines of ‘we’re proper lyricists now, since we’ve nailed metaphors’. But which song was it? And which line? And when?

 _Remember remember remember_.

When was it? When had Niall been so happy with their use of a metaphor in one of their songs?

And suddenly, it came back to him. He remembered, when the three of them had been singing one of his favourite One Direction songs loudly, and he had been jumping around with Niall and Liam. They had been so excited when they finished it, because the rhythm in that song had just felt awesome, and they had all loved it from the opening seconds of the song.

So Harry thought of that moment, remembered Niall’s metaphor comment, and started singing that song again, albeit with less movements and more purpose this time.

“Waking up  
Beside you I’m a loaded gun  
I can't contain this anymore  
I'm all yours I've got no control  
No control  
Powerless  
And I don't care it's obvious  
I just can't get enough of you  
The pedal's down, my eyes are closed  
No control”

Louis just looked at him, and didn’t say anything. Harry was eager to know whether he’d done well, because he really wanted to impress Louis.

“Well?” Harry asked, impatient about Louis’ response.

“Well what? I asked you for another example, and you just sang me a chorus of what I can only assume is another One Direction song I’ve never heard before. And as of yet, you’ve still not given me an explanation of the word metaphor. Or where is was supposed to be in your chorus. Come on Styles, you’re not done yet.”

“It’s the loaded gun part.” Harry said, a bit of insecurity in his voice. He really hoped he understood this whole metaphor part.

“Please elaborate.” Louis said, grinning wildly.

“Waking up beside you, I’m a loaded gun. I’m not really a loaded gun, It’s meant to be symbolical. You know, I’m _like_ a loaded gun.” Harry tried to explain while gesticulating fiercefully.

“Oooh, look at that. You really want to impress me, don’t you?”

“I thought that much was obvious by now,” Harry murmured, and Louis tilted his head.

“Awww. My dearest pupil.”

“My loveliest teacher.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere this time, but it was a nice attempt to distract me. Chop-chop. What’s a metaphor then?”

“It’s, like,” Harry was searching for words, for a good explanation. He did really want to impress Louis. “It’s when you compare two things, like, me and the loaded gun in the song, and in a symbolical way you’re saying that they have something in common. Like, a loaded gun might explode any second, such as I might explode as I wake up beside you. Or something like that.”

Louis cooed as soon as Harry stopped talking. “Oh my. That was great! I’ve created a monster. A sexy superstar lyricist poet analyst. If you keep talking like that I’m never returning to work.”

“I actually like the sound of that.”

“I’m sure you do. Now, I’m so impressed you come up with a metaphor from a One Direction song. No idea you guys were such good poets!”

“I think we have quite a few actually. Like, in One Thing?” Harry asked.

“Sorry love, but I don’t know your lyrics by heart. Sing it to me.” Louis raised his shoulder as if to apologize.

“It’s quite alright you don’t know our songs. I’ll gladly sing it for you,” Harry offered, and so he did.

“Shot me out of the sky  
You're my kryptonite  
You keep making me weak  
Yeah, frozen and can't breathe

It’s the kryptonite line, right? Like, you make me weak, just as kryptonite made Superman weak?”

“My baby knows his metaphors,” Louis sighed dramatically, and he kissed Harry’s cheek. Harry couldn’t help but chuckle, and he was so excited. While he had been singing One Thing, he thought about other metaphors in their songs, eager to impress.

“Oh, there’s plenty more where that came from. One Direction songs are filled with metaphors. Brace yourself mister!” Harry said, and he intended to impress Louis some more.

“Show me what you’ve got.”

Harry crawled out of bed, and ran to the bathroom to get a brush. He used it as a microphone when he started singing again. Louis was laughing out loud, and Harry considered that a win.

“I've got fire for a heart, I'm not scared of the dark  
You've never seen it look so easy  
I got a river for a soul and baby you're a boat  
Baby, you're my only reason”

“Baby you’re a boat? Seriously?” Louis looked appalled. “Metaphor, yes, but that’s just terrible writing.”

“Shush. Don’t interrupt my flow. Already three One Direction songs with metaphors baby!” Harry shouted excitedly.

Louis nodded, and clapped his hands with a mock-bored face. Harry chuckled, and started singing again.

“Cause nobody knows you, baby, the way I do,  
And nobody loves you, baby, the way I do,  
It's been so long, it's been so long, maybe you are fireproof,  
'Cause nobody saves me, baby, the way you do”

“You are fireproof. Metaphor baby! That makes four,” Harry stated proudly. “But there’s more,

My hands,  
Your hands  
Tied up  
Like two ships.

That’s five!”

“No it’s not. Tied up like two ships, that’s a simile. Like, remember?” Louis said, smirking. “Minus 1 Styles.”

“Oooh,” Harry pouted. He was really disappointed that he had missed that one. Similes and metaphors, after Louis’ lesson he should have known better. But still. Louis had looked at him in awe when he had been singing, so that had been worth it. “Well, I still got four, didn’t I? I bet you didn’t see that coming.”

“Nope. I had no clue there was such poetry in One Direction songs. You taught me something as well.” Louis said, still smiling, and Harry crawled back onto the bed.

“You’re a really good teacher, you know. I mean, that was fun. You had me hooked.” Harry admitted, as he crawled closer to Louis.

“Sorry love, but you’re not the most objective pupil. I guess the kids at university are going to be a bit less enthusiastic than you were,” Louis said, and Harry slowly started kissing his neck. He could hear Louis breathing, and he wanted him to moan again, as he often did when they kissed.

“Can you teach me another poetic thingy? Who knows how many secret literary lyrics we have hidden in our songs.” Harry whispered in Louis’ ear.

“I’m sorry, lyrics lessons are over. It’s time for your next class: sexual education.” Louis deadpanned, and he pushed Harry off, so the latter fell on his back on the bed. Louis took charge immediately, and crawled on top of him again. Louis just winked dirtily, and then the kissing started again. Harry closed his eyes, and smiled into the kiss. He was having so much fun. He placed his hands on Louis’ bum, and gave it a squeeze.

Louis stopped kissing him, and Harry lifted his lips into the air trying to find Louis’ lips again, but he failed. When he opened his eyes, to see where Louis had gone, he saw his face, all serious now, looking at him.

“So Harry, are you going to be good for me?” Louis demanded, raising his brows. “Will you behave for Mister Tomlinson?”

_Oh dear._

Louis was continuing in his role as Harry’s teacher. That was so hot. And dirty. And sexy. And fun.

“Yes,” Harry sighed, in awe of Louis’ complete change in behaviour. Two seconds ago he had been Louis, his funny and cheeky boyfriend, and now he was Louis, his hot and dirty teacher. He didn’t know that it was possible to get turned that quickly, but Louis had definitely set some kind of new record in getting Harry  hard.

“Yes who now?” Louis asked, voice still stern, looking at Harry.

“Yes Mister Tomlinson,” Harry heard himself say, and he had no idea why he loved playing that submissive role for Louis, but it just felt so so good.

“That’s a good boy,” Louis said, and he continued to kiss Harry, and then started sucking his earlobe.

Harry moaned. He was going to enjoy this to the fullest.

 

 

 

Two hours later, Harry was being spooned by Louis in the king-size hotel bed. They could probably fit all of Louis’ sisters in there, and still have enough room, yet the two of them were so incredibly close to each other, you might think they were in a bed for just one.

As soon as the game had ended, the teacher-pupil sex had ensued, and Harry had loved every second of it.

Louis had demanded a blowjob from Harry, and he had given him one like the good boy he was. Louis had kept his eyes on him the entire time while he was sucking him, and Harry had felt like a star pupil. Louis had told him he’d done so well, he’d receive bonus points. Harry had beamed, genuinely happy that he’d made Louis feel good.

Next, Louis had given him a wellness treatment as he had called it, by slowly kissing his hole, and gently rimming him, until Harry had practically begged Louis to fuck him.

Louis, being the good teacher he was, had answered his pupil’s question, and fucked him thoroughly.

Just as the previous times, the sex had been mind-blowing. Harry loved watching Louis come, and he loved feeling him inside of him. It was just so fucking good. Louis probably felt the same, because when Harry had been cleaning up their mess with a washcloth, Louis had whispered, “A+ for sex, baby.”

 

 

Now, Harry could feel himself falling asleep, although he really did not want so. He was so aware of the fact that this was their last night together. He had tried to get Louis to talk about it, but Louis had just said to enjoy their time together, and not to worry.

God, he loved Louis. Loved spending time with him. Adored him. And tomorrow, Harry would go back to England, and Louis would stay right here to start his new job at Harvard. He still had so many questions about their future together, about how they were going to continue from this point on, about when they were going to see each other again, about pretty much everything.

This time, he had just hopped on a plane because of Louis’ infamous post-it, thereby cancelling his weekend plans. However, he needed to get back into the studio with Liam and Niall as soon as possible. They were in the middle of recording an album, and unfortunately there was simply no time for quick trips to the US in the near future. Louis’ budget was a lot tighter than Harry’s, so he couldn’t expect Louis to just fly to London to see him either. He had no idea how this was going to work out. How this could work out.

“Stop thinking,” Louis whispered into his ear. “Get some sleep love.”

Louis’ words immediately put a smile on Harry’s face. It was almost as if he had fallen in love with a mind reader.

“I love you, Louis. Thanks for today. I loved every second.” Harry replied.

“Same here. Love you too,” Louis said, and he kissed Harry’s neck.

Still so many questions, but hearing these words, Harry knew enough to fall asleep in no time.

 

 

A few hours later, he woke up because he heard the shower running. A quick glance at his mobile told him it was almost seven o’clock, and Louis probably was getting ready for his first official workday at Harvard. Harvard of all places. His boyfriend worked at Harvard. Harry was so proud.  
Harry had some more time, his plane would leave somewhere around ten, but he decided to join Louis in the shower anyway.

“Good morning love,” Louis said when Harry entered the shower. “Do you honestly think there’s enough room for the both of us in here?”

“Of course. I’ll just plaster myself against your back, and it’ll be fine.” Harry answered, and he did exactly what he had said. He could feel Louis leaning against his shoulders, and Harry kissed his neck. “Good morning to you to. You okay? Not nervous?”

Louis turned around, and Harry could see the nervousness in his eyes. Louis took a deep breath, as he washed his hair. When he was finished, he opened his mouth to speak, but kissed Harry first. 

“I’m super nervous. Like, over-the-top nervous. This is Harvard. And I’m taking someone else’s job. And in another country. And after I’ve been accused of not checking my sources at my previous university. And you know.” Louis rambled.

Louis rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, and Harry took the bottle to wash his.

“You’re going to do fine Lou.” Harry said, and he meant it. He was absolutely sure that Louis would kick ass.

“Probably, yeah, but that still doesn’t mean that I’m not nervous about showing up there in a bit.”

 “They’ll love you.”

“I’m sorry, but just because you love me, doesn’t mean everybody else will.”

“They’ll love you,” Harry repeated, “What’s not to love? You’re a hard worker, you’re passionate about lyrics and poetry, and you’re, like super sexy. Really, you’ve got no reason at all to be nervous.”

“Thanks love. But, still nervous.” Louis said, and Harry had had enough of this unnecessary insecurity. He took Louis in his arms quite forcefully, and started kissing him.

“You. Are. So. Wonderful.” Harry said, and between every word he kissed another part of Louis’ face. His eyes, his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, his lips, his lips, his lips. “They. Will. Love. You.” More lips.

Louis returned the kisses, and he opened his mouth for Harry. He could smell the shampoo, and feel the hot water, but all that mattered was that Louis was pliant in his arms, and that they were kissing. Harry was in control, cupping Louis’ face, and he loved seeing Louis’ nerves disappear with every kiss, he loved that he was able to take care of his boyfriend.

“Do you have time for sex?” Harry asked, voice filled with hope.

“Not very long, but yes, I do.” Louis said, grinning.

“Good.” Harry replied, and he lifted Louis legs, putting his hands on his bum to carry him back to the bed.

“You fucked me last night, and quite wonderfully I might add, but now I’m taking care of you.” Harry stated, leaving no doubt about who was in charge this time.

“Yes dear,” Louis replied angelically, and Harry thought the smile on Louis’ face as he said that was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Harry knew time was of the essence, so he immediately opened Louis’ legs and crawled in between them, kissing his hole, and pumping his cock. Louis moaned, and that motivated Harry even more. He entered a first finger, and saw Louis arching his back.

“God, you’re so hot,” Harry said.

“Even poetic during sex. Such a difficult rhyme scheme!” Louis remarked cheekily, grinning broadly, but Harry added a second finger for good measure, and that the grin on Louis’ face disappeared in an instant. “Fuck!”

“On it, baby. Patience is a virtue.” Harry sang, and he kept on fingering Louis. He kissed every inch of Louis’ thighs, and loved the soapy fresh smell of his body.

“More,” Louis demanded, and Harry happily obliged, adding a third finger. Louis squirmed on the bed, as Harry continued.

“Yes dear,” Harry said, using the exact same intonation that Louis had used a few minutes ago. Louis just winked at him, obviously not bothered. Harry used all three fingers, going in and out, getting Louis ready.

“Harry, just get in me already,” Louis grumbled.

“That doesn’t even rhyme.” Harry remarked, voice filled with mock disappointment. “There was nothing poetic about that. Should I fuck you then?” He put his finger upon his lips, pretending to think.

 “Harry, damn it,” Louis swore, and Harry just looked at him with a huge grin on his face.

“What? I thought you wanted to be poetic during sex.” Harry chuckled.

“Hey loaded gun,” Louis started, “I just can’t contain this anymore. I’m all yours, I’ve got no control. I’m powerless. And I don’t care it’s obvious.”

Harry was so absolutely endeared by Louis right now. He was being poetic, during sex, using a One Direction song. If he had a ring right now, he’d propose.

_Wow, what?_

He crawled back on top of Louis, just to be able to kiss him. “That’s so great. I can’t believe you just sang one of our songs during sex!” Harry said happily.

“Harry, I said that to get you to fuck me. Loaded gun, remember?” To stress his point, Louis quickly took the lube and a condom, and presented the items to Harry. “Fuck me. Now.”

“Yes dear. I bet you’re the only bossy bottom in the world.” Harry murmured, and he kissed Louis’ nose again. He crawled off Louis, and turned him around so he was on his hands and knees.

“Yeah, I like it this way,” Louis said. He even lifted his bum, to give Harry more access.

Harry took his cock, and slowly entered Louis’ hole. He really felt like a loaded gun, because Louis was so tight, and so incredibly sexy, that it was pretty hard not to come on the spot.

“Louis,” Harry moaned.

He started moving his hips, gently at first, but Louis immediately pushed his bum back into Harry’s hips, nudging him to go faster. Within a minute, Harry was fucking him hard.

“Fuck, baby,” Louis moaned. “More.”

So so good. So so sexy. So so hot.

“You’re, so.” Harry didn’t finish his sentence, but kept on fucking Louis. Harder. Faster. Deeper. As soon as he thought of these words, he couldn’t help but smile, and think of the Daft Punk song. He started repeating the lyrics of the song with every thrust into Louis. “Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.”

“Are you,” Louis grumbled, while his entire body was following Harry’s rhythm, “singing Daft Punk to me during sex?”

“Yeah,” Harry replied, still pounding into Louis as if his life depended on it.

“God, I love you.” Louis sighed. And just like that, Louis came, and Harry followed a few thrusts later.

“Ditto,” Harry mumbled, unable to say anything else.

 

A few minutes later, Louis got up again, and started dressing himself quickly.

“Still nervous?” Harry asked.

“Not so much anymore, thanks for taking care of that love.”

“But still a bit? Do I need to fuck you again?” Harry asked, raising his brows.

“Obviously. Just not now. No time. But,” Louis stopped, and looked at the ground. He seemed insecure all of the sudden. Harry wondered what was going on, “I’m not nervous about the job anymore. I’m nervous for something else.”

“What’s up Lou?” Harry asked, slightly worried about the sudden change in Louis’ behaviour.

“Yeah, so, like, this is goodbye, right? Between us?”

Ah, it was finally time for that conversation. Harry been waiting for this for a long time, and had tried to start the topic himself, but Louis had always carefully steered the conversation in another direction.

“Well, yeah. I should get back to London as soon as possible. It’s Monday, and Liam and Niall are writing again, and you know,” Harry started, but he didn’t really get a chance to finish his sentence because Louis interrupted him.

“Yeah, no, I get it. You’ve got a life in London, and mine’s going to be here in Boston for a while.”

“Uhu.” Harry said, not really understanding what Louis was getting at.

“So it’s a real goodbye then.” Louis almost whispered.

“What do you mean, real goodbye?”

“You know, a final goodbye, like, it’s the end. Between you and me.” Louis said, still not looking at Harry.

Harry finally understood what Louis was getting at. That explained why he no longer looked like the confident man he normally was, but like an insecure puppy. Louis thought Harry was leaving him behind, for good. No way that was ever going to happen. Louis was his first real love, the love of his life even. He didn't really understand how that was not chrystal clear to Louis just yet, but now would be the time to tell him. To convince him. Harry knew he did not have a lot of time left to change his mind, but his goal was super clear now.

“Louis, this is not the end. Like, there’s no way that this is the end.”

“But you’re going away, aren’t you? And then you’re working in London the entire time, and then you’re going to be touring the world, and you know, we’ll never see each other.”

“Yeah, but, that doesn’t mean this needs to be goodbye, does it now?”

“Doesn’t it?” Louis' voice sounded a bit more hopeful this time

“God, Louis, I love you. I’m so in love with you. I don’t know if these things happen to you quite often, but for me, this, this thing between us, is one of a kind.”

“No, for me as well.”

“So, let’s try then. I think you might be the love of my life. I mean, you're it for me, really. I want to be with you. I want to be your boyfriend. I want to read articles about how stupidly in love we appear to be. I want to cross the Atlantic just for the weekend so you can fuck me. I want it all.”

“You do? You’d do that for me?” For the very first time since they started the conversation, Louis had looked at him. A brief glimse, but Harry wanted more. 

Harry took Louis’ hands in his, trying to get him to look at him. He cupped his face, and caressed his cheek, trying to be as sweet as possible, as perfect as possible, for his perfect Louis.

“Lou, I’d literally do _anything_ for you. Please, let’s just try. It won’t be easy, long-distance and everything, but if Drew Barrymore and Justin Long can pull it off, so can we. We should try. You're so perfect for me. You're so perfect to me.”

“God, I want to try. Genuinely. Because, yeah, you're like, perfect for me as well.” Louis said, looking straight into Harry’s eyes this time. His face was no longer serious, but a small smile appeared. Harry loved seeing that smile.

“Then let’s try. You said you were in love with me, right?”

“Yeah, of course. So so so very much in love with you.”

“Well then. The feeling’s mutual. That’s all we need to know, isn’t it?”

“I guess it is," Louis nodded, his eyes still fixed on Harry's. 

“Let’s do this. Let’s be together.” Harry said, voice filled with hope. “Please Louis. I don’t want this to end.”

“Me neither," Louis paused, and he took a step back from Harry and plantend his hands on his hips. "So, you and me, we’re really doing this? A genuine relationship?”

“We’re really doing this.”

“Just so you know, I’m going to my new job in fifteen minutes. I’ll have to introduce myself, and I can say to all of these people I’m going to meet that I have a boyfriend?” Louis asked, smiling.

“Yes. You’ve got a boyfriend.” Harry nodded, smiling so hard that his cheeks were starting to hurt. Louis’ smile looked identical. They were absolutely made for one another, mirroring each other’s moves.

“I’ve got a boyfriend,” Louis grinned, pinching Harry’s hand.

“I’ve got a boyfriend too.” Harry replied, and he put his arms around Louis, needing to hold him close for these last minutes they had together.

“I’ve got an official boyfriend. He just lives on the other side of the Atlantic,” he mumbled into Harry’s ears. Harry ended the hug, and took Louis’ shoulders in his hands, looking him into his eyes.

“And you’re living together with your boyfriend, just not as long as you’re working in Boston. As soon as you finish your PhD, you’re coming back home, to our place.” Harry stated, as if it was completely normal to decide to officially move in, after you've just decided to officially be boyfriends. Right.

“Our place?” Louis repeated, raising his brows. All of the insecurity had disappeared now, and Harry enjoyed the return of cheeky Louis.

“Yeah. It won’t feel like home as long as you’re not there,” he admitted.

“Oh God, it’s Sappy McSapson, the sequal!” Louis chuckled.

“Sappy as fuck, but I mean every word. I meant every word. Like, I’m coming back next weekend, just to see you.” Harry shrugged, as if it meant nothing, as if it was no big deal. He could already hear himself talking to the boys about next weekend. 'Hey, what are your plans for this weekend? Oh, you know. Just, casually flying across the Atlantic to see my boyfriend.'

“I thought you said just to fuck me.”

“Well, that as well. Obviously.” 

“Obviously.”

“Genuinely.”

“Genuinely.”

 

\------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My God, I'm so glad I finished this... I don't know if anyone was actually still waiting, but in case you were, I'm so sorry. I could you give 15264 excuses, but I fear I just was a bit lazy, and started reading other fics instead of writing.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the ending. Sorry to keep you waiting. My sincerest apologies. If I was a rich girl, I'd send you all lots of chocolate to make up for it :) 
> 
> Oh yes, and it's a work of fiction. Tadaaa!


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